AND 


ACH/EOLOGY 


W 


'ON 


/ 


WONDERS  OF  ART  AND  ARCHEOLOGY 


WONDERS 

OF 

ARCHITECTURE 

Translated  from  the  French  of  M.  Lefevre 


TO   WHICH    IS   ADDED 


A  CHAPTER  ON  ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE 

BY 

R.    DONALD 

ILLUSTRATED'    ' 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
1886 


PREFACE. 

THE  object  of  tfye  present  work  is  to  supply,  in  as  accessible 
and  popular  a  form  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  admits,  a 
connected  and  comprehensive  sketch  of  the  chief  archi- 
tectural achievements  of  ancient  and  modem  times.  To 
give  a  history  of  the  art  treated  of  in  the  following  pages, 
would  require  much  more  space  than  is  here  devoted 
to  the  subject.  But  whilst  this  has  not  been  directly  at- 
tempted, it  may  be  said  to  be  indirectly  fulfilled.  Com- 
mencing with  the  rudest  dawnings  of  architectural  science 
as  exemplified  in  the  Celtic  monuments,  a  carefully  com- 
piled and  authentic  record  is  given  of  the  most  remarkable 
temples,  palaces,  columns,  towers,  cathedrals,  bridges,  via- 
ducts, churches,  and  buildings  of  every  description  which 
the  genius  of  man  has  constructed ;  and  as  these  are  all 
described  in  chronological  order,  according  to  the  eras  to 
which  they  belong,  they  form  a  connected  narrative  of  the 
development  of  architecture,  in  which  the  history  and  pro- 
gress of  the  art  can  be  authentically  traced. 

The  book  has  been  designed  for  the  edification  and 
amusement  of  the  general  reader,  and  not  for  the  perusal 
of  the  professional  student  Care  has  been  taken  to 
popularise  the  theme  as  much  as  possible,  to  make  the 


VU1  PREFACE. 

descriptions  plain  and  vivid,  to  render  the  text  free  from 
mere  technicalities,  and  to  convey  a  correct  and  truthful 
impression  of  the  various  objects  that  are  enumerated. 
Whilst,  however,  an  effort  has  been  made  to  place  the 
architectural  marvels  of  the  world  in  a  simple  and  easily 
recognisable  manner  before  the  mind  of  the  reader,  there 
has  been  retained  sufficient  of  the  professional  phraseology 
to  instruct  the  uninitiated  in  the  rudiments  of  an  art  which 
is  daily  assuming  a  more  prominent  position. 

Although,  as  will  be  seen,  the  scheme  has  been  carried 
out  within  very  moderate  compass,  no  building  or  structure 
that  claimed,  or  still  claims,  to  be  ranked  among  the 
wonders  of  architecture,  has  been  omitted.  All  the  cele- 
brated structures  that  ever  existed,  or  that  are  yet  in  ex- 
istence, from  the  Tower  of  Babel  downwards,  are  described 
in  connection  with  the  various  civilisations  which  gave  them 
birth. 

It  only  remains  to  be  added  that  the  book  is  translated 
from  the  French.  Many  alterations  have,  however,  been 
made  in  it,  in  order  to  make  it  more  acceptable  to  English 
readers ;  and  a  brief  and  sketchy  chapter  has  been  added 
upon  the  history  and  growth  of  English  architecture. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  L 

CELTIC   MONUMENTS.  rAO, 

The  Men-hirs  of  Croisic,  of  Lochmariaker,  and  of  Plouarzel — 
The  Cromlechs  of  Abury  and  of  Stonehenge  —  Lines  of  Carnac 
— Dolmens  of  Cornwall— Covered  Ways  of  Munster,  Saumur, 
and  Gavrinnis I 

CHAPTER  IL 

PELASGIC   AND   ETRUSCAN    MONUMENTS. 

Acropolis  of  Sipylus — Ruins  of  Mycenae — Monte  Circello      .         •     II 

CHAPTER   IIL 

^GYPT. 
The  Pyramids— Thebes—  Ipsamboul     ......     19 

CHAPTER   IV. 

ASIATIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

Jerusalem — Nineveh — Babylon — Persepolis— Ellora     .         .         .29 
CHAPTER  V. 

GREEK   ART. 

Athens — The  Acropolis-  The  Parthenon — Greek  Remains  in  Italy 
and  Asia— The  Temples  of  Psestum — The  Temple  of  Diana  at 
Ephesus  ..........  43 

CHAPTER     VI. 

ANCIENT   ROME. 

The  Roman  Forum — Capitol — Colosseum — Temple  of  Peace — 
Arches  of  Titus  and  Constantine— Baths  of  Caracalla— The 
Pantheon — Trajan  Column  .......  62 

CHAPTER   VII. 

THE     ROMAN     WORLD. 

The  West— Square  House  of  Nimes— Roman  Gate  at  Treves— 
Arena  of  Nimes — Amphitheatre  of  Aries — Palmyra  and 
Balbek  .  . .  £5 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
LATIN  AND  BYZANTINE  STYLES.  PAGB 

Basilicas — Roman  Churches — Mosque  of  St  Sophia  at  Con- 
stantinople— Cathedral  of  Angouleme 103 

CHAPTER   IX. 

ORIENTAL    ARCHITECTURE. 

Arab  Style — Mosque  of  Omar — The  Alhambra  —  Mosque  of 
Cordova — India — Puri — Juggernaut — Monuments  of  Delhi — 
Persia  and  China— Ispahan— The  Chinese  Wall— The  Por- 
celain Tower — Central  America 1 19 

CHAPTER  X. 

ROMAN    ARCHITECTURE. 

Continental  Churches  and  Cathedrals    .         .         ,         .         .         .  138 
CHAPTER   XL 

GOTHIC   ART. 

Characteristics  of  the  Gothic  Style — Cathedrals  of  Amiens, 
Chartres,  and  Strasbourg — The  Florid  Style — Renaissance 
Gothic — Military  and  Civil  Structures  of  the  Middle  Ages  .  153 

CHAPTER  XII. 

ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE. 

Pisa— The  Leaning  Tower— Florence— The  Cathedral  of  Milan- 
Roman  Palaces— St.  Peter's  at  Rome 180 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

FRENCH    RENAISSANCE. 

The  old  French  Chateaux — Fontainebleau — The  Louvre       .         .  207 
CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLASSIC  ART  AND   THE   DECADENCE   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

Versailles— The  Palais -Royal— The  Bourse— The  Madeleine- 
New  Opera  House 230 

CHAPTER   XV. 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURE. 
Stonehenge — Westminster  and  Melrose  Abbeys — Pontefract  Castle 

— Holyrood  Palace 239 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


MM 

1.  The  Temple  of  Neptune  at  Paestum,       .        .        Frontispiece. 

2.  The  Pillars  of  Karnac,  .  4 

3.  The  Merchant's  Tables  at  Lochmariaker,       ....      7 

4.  Ruins  at  Mycenae  :  I.  Tomb  of  Atreus.  2.  Gate  of  the  Lions,     15 

5.  Karnak  (Egypt), 26 

6.  Khorsabad — Assyrian  Temple  Restored,        .        .        .        .    33 

7.  Temples  of  Ellora, 40 

8.  The  Parthenon,  from  a  photogiaph, 49 

9.  The  Temple  of  Pandrosa,  .  52 
10.  The  Temple  of  Neptune  at  Paestum,  from  a  photograph,        .     57 
u.  The  Colosseum  at  Rome,  from  a  photograph,    .        •        .         67 

12.  Ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  from  a  photograph,       .        .71 

13.  The  Pantheon  at  Rome,  75 

14.  Trajan's  Column  at  Rome 79 

15.  The  Square  House  of  Nimes, 86 

1 6.  Roman  Gate  at  Treves,  ...  .        .    87 

17.  The  Arena  of  Nimes .90 

18.  The  Amphitheatre  of  Aries, 92 

19.  The  Pont  du  Gard, 96 

20.  Interior  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople        .        .        .        .109 

21.  Cathedral  of  A ngouleme 116 

22.  A  View  in  the  Alhambra, 123 

23.  Interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova, 127 

24.  The  Cathedral  at  Spires, 139 

25.  Crypt  of  St.  Kutrope  de  Saintes,        .....       142 

26.  Cathedral  of  Puy, ...  145 

27.  Notre  Dame  de  Poitiers    .        .  ...        149 

28.  Western  Door  of  the  Cathedral  01  Mans,        .        .        .        .151 


Xll  LIST  OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

P101 

29.  The  Cathedral  of  Chartres, 157 

30.  The  Cathedral  of  Bourges, 160 

31.  The  Cathedral  of  Rheims, 161 

32.  The  Cathedral  of  Strasbourg, 163 

33.  Interior  of  St.  Etienne  de  Metz  at  Paris,     ....       169 

34.  Walls  of  Carcassonne, 174 

35.  Ruins  of  Coucy, 178 

36.  Interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sienna, 185 

37.  The  Vatican  and  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,         ....       194 

38.  The  Front  of  St.  Peter's, 197 

39.  Interior  of  St  Peter's, 201 

40.  Val  de  Gr&ce, 203 

41.  The  Chateau  of  Blois, 206 

42.  The  Chateau  of  Chenonceaux, 209 

43.  The  Chateau  of  Chambord, 213 

44.  The  Porte  Doree  of  the  Chateau  of  Fontainebleau,         .        .  215 

45.  Gallery  of  Francis  I.  at  Fontainebleau,        ....       216 

46.  Court  and  Dauphin  Gate, 218 

47.  The  Louvre, 221 

48.  Colonnade  of  the  Louvre,        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  223 

49.  Richelieu  Pavilion  of  the  Louvre,        ...  .       226 

50.  The  Turgot  Pavilion  (New  Louvre), 228 

51.  Viaduct  of  Chaumont, .       233 

52.  Windsor  Castle, 240 

53.  Opera  House  at  Paris,  .         ......  236 

54.  Stonehenge  (restored), 242 

55.  Guild  Hall 246 

56.  Westminster  Abbey,  .......       249 

57.  Pontefract  Castle, 253 

58-  Norwich  Castle, 254 

59.  Melrose  Abbey, ,  .  256 

60.  Holyrood  House,       ...  ....       260 


WONDERS 

OF 

ARCHITECTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

CELTIC     MONUMENTS. 

ON  misty  days,  when  sea  and  sky  blend  together  on  the 
grey  horizon,  a  fitting  spot  for  contemplation  is  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Croisic — a  strip  of  bleak  and 
unproductive  land,  which  to  the  imagination  looks  like  the 
world's  end,  so  far  does  it  stretch  its  low-lying  and  narrow 
tongue  into  the  solitary  seas.  In  that  remote  spot,  a  simple 
stone  of  unpretending  dimensions  raises  its  head  from  a 
gentle  eminence,  above  purple  granite  rocks,  beaten  by  the 
restless  waves.  Surrounded  by  soothing  influences,  and  un- 
heedful  of  the  passing  hours,  the  reflective  mind  may  there 
indulge  in  reveries  of  the  past,  under  the  shadow  of  this 
silent  witness  of  the  ancient  times.  Fancy,  conjuring  up 
visions  of  what  has  departed,  may  there  picture  once  again 
the  Druids  and  their  strange  life — see  them,  with  their  long 
beards  and  their  oaken  wreaths,  performing  their  mysterious 
rites,  and  hear  the  song  of  the  gentle  priestesses,  sweeping 
past  in  picturesque  procession,  armed  with  their  golden 
sickles. 

Of  all  ancient  architectural  remains,  this  stone  of  Croisic 
is  perhaps  the  most  insignificant,  its  proportions  being  very 


2  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

small  compared  with  some  that  may  be  mentioned.  The 
great  stone  of  Lochmariaker,  for  instance,  is  70  feet  in 
height — an  altitude  as  great  as  that  of  the  Egyptian  obelisks. 
Originally  it  formed  one  complete  and  imposing  monumental 
pillar,  but  it  is  now  overturned  and  broken  into  four 
pieces. 

Another  pillar  belonging  to  the  same  category,  situated 
between  Nantes  and  Larochelle,  was  still  higher.  That 
of  Plouarzel,  again,  upon  the  highest  point  of  Bas-Leon 
(Finisterre),  is  36  feet  above  the  level  of  the  earth. 
It  is  of  unwrought  granite,  its  surface  is  covered  with 
lichens  and  mosses,  and  it  is  of  a  form  nearly  quadran- 
gular. Upon  two  of  its  opposite  sides  a  kind  of  bas- 
relief  has  been  sculptured  by  a  rude  hand,  which  still  is 
venerated  by  the  peasantry  of  the  country.  This  carving 
represents  the  cosmogonic  egg  of  the  great  mythical  dragon, 
the  supposed  source  of  all  existing  things,  and  is  emblematic 
of  the  world,  says  Mr.  Henry  Martin.  The  same  figure  is 
to  be  traced  upon  other  monuments. 

The  upright  stones  which  are  to  be  found  in  France, 
England,  ancient  Germany,  Scandinavia,  Russia,  Siberia, 
China,  Thrace,  Northern  Africa,  and  even  in  the  New  World, 
are  known  by  different  names.  In  Brittany  and  the  depart- 
ments of  Western  France,  where  they  abound,  they  are 
called  men-hirs  or  long  stones,  or  stone  pillars.  They  were 
often  employed  to  mark  the  burial-place  of  persons  whose 
memory  it  was  desired  to  commemorate ;  they  were  fre- 
quently monumental  in  their  character,  having  been  erected 
merely  to  commemorate  some  notable  event ;  and  occa- 
sionally they  were  purely  religious  in  their  signification. 

Not  unfrequently  these  gigantic  stones  are  found  grouped 
around  a  central  pillar  of  more  than  the  usual  height,  and 


CELTIC   MONUMENTS.  3 

form  what  are  called  cromkehs  or  sacred  circles.  These 
circles  were  in  ancient  times  used  as  temples  and  assembly 
halls.  Sometimes  the  cromlechs  surrounded  tumuli  in 
which  the  dead  were  deposited,  the  idea  having  evidently 
been  to  place  the  tombs  within  the  consecrated  enclosure. 
Again,  instances  are  found  of  two  or  three  cromlechs  grouped 
together  surrounded  by  stone  pillars  arranged  in  straight  or 
curved  lines ;  and  in  certain  cases  the  stones  bear  evidence 
of  having  passed  through  the  workman's  hands.  They  are 
arranged  in  thriliths,  each  of  which,  as  the  name  signifies, 
consisting  of  three  stones,  two  of  which  are  upright  pillars 
supporting  a  third,  which  forms  a  kind  of  architrave,  uniting 
the  two  pillars  by  the  help  of  mortices  and  bolts  rudely 
ornamented. 

This  arrangement,  unknown  in  France,  probably  existed 
at  Abury,  and  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Stonehenge,  in  what  is 
known  as  the  Cor-Gawr  or  Dance  of  Giants,  the  original 
plan  of  which  can  be  easily  made  out  from  the  remains. 
This  Cor-Gawr  consists  of  two  circles  and  two  ovoids,  the 
one  within  the  other,  and  is  300  feet  in  circumference. 
The  thriliths  of  the  inner  circle  measure  30  feet  high  by 
about  8  feet  wide. 

Combinations  of  stone  pillars,  which  do  not  of  them- 
selves form  enclosed  figures,  go  by  the  simple  name  of  lines. 
Morbihan  possesses  admirable  examples  of  these,  the  most 
beautiful  of  them  being  the  Lines  of  Carnac,  near  the  sea. 
In  spite  of  the  ravages  of  time,  there  still  remain  1,200  up- 
right stones,  ranged  in  distinct  order,  and  easily  distinguish- 
able from  the  other  monumental  remains  spread  over  the 
district  Here  must  have  existed  an  immense  temple,  up- 
wards of  a  mile  in  length,  where  the  Druidic  ceremonies  were 
solemnised.  The  broken  obelisks  stand  with  their  smaller 

6    2 


A  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

ends  in  the  ground,  and  many  of  them  are  18  feet  in 
height,  though  a  considerable  number  rise  to  only  3  feet. 
They  are  arranged  in  eleven  parallel  rows,  forming  ten 
ivenues  leading  towards  a  semi-circle,  which  formed  the 
sanctuary  or  inner  temple  of  the  enclosure. 


The  Pillars  of  Carnac. 

Celtic  architecture  is  not  restricted  to  stone  pillars- 
indeed,  these  can  hardly  be  said  to  belong  to  architecture  at 
all.  Different  from  these  pillars  is  the  dolmen  or  stone  table, 
which  has  received  a  number  of  names,  such  as  broad  stone, 
covered  stone,  devil's  table,  fairy's  table,  and,  in  the  Breton 
language,  home  of  the  fairies.  The  simplest  dolmens  con- 


CELTIC   MONUMENTS.  5 

sist  of  three  stones — two  placed  upright,  and  one  broad 
horizontal  slab  supported  by  the  other  two.  Very  often  there 
are  four  or  more  stones  ornamented  at  one  end  and  forming 
a  grotto.  Sometimes  there  are  two  or  three  tables  supported 
by  a  dozen  upright  stones  of  great  size.  The  demi-dolmen, 
raised  only  at  one  end,  presents  a  sloping  surface. 

The  dolmen  may  be  said  to  resen-ble  the  monuments 
of  rough  stones  which  Arrian  says  he  saw  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  also  those  of  which  Calpurrius  speaks  in  one  of  his 
Eclogues.  Strabo,  the  celebrated  geographer,  whilst  travel- 
ling in  Egypt,  encountered  some  temples  of  Mercury  com- 
posed of  two  rough  stones  sustaining  a  third,  in  all  of  which 
could  be  traced  the  main  features  and  characteristics  of  the 
dolmen,  or  stone  table. 

Dolmens,  however,  were  generally  tombs,  not  temples — 
places  of  burial  and  not  places  of  worship,  as  they  have 
been  long  believed  to  be.  Celtic  altars  do  not  appear  to 
have  taken  the  form  of  chambers  or  grottos.  The  greater 
number  of  those  which  can  now  be  identified  consist 
either  of  a  table  placed  upon  one  or  two  blocks,  or  of  a 
shapeless  slab  supported  by  others  of  a  like  character.  The 
stone-basins,  of  which  much  has  been  written,  belong  to 
this  category.  Antiquaries  have  eagerly  searched  these 
basins,  in  hopes  of  discovering  the  grooves  in  which  ran  the 
blood  of  the  sacrificed  victim.  Cornwall  enjoys  the  dis- 
tinction of  possessing  the  giant  of  the  dolmens,  a  memorial 
structure  crowned  with  basins,  the  largest  of  which  has 
a  radius  of  3  feet.  The  table  itself,  placed  upon  two 
natural  rocks  of  low  elevation,  measures  about  40  feet  long, 
20  feet  wide,  and  16  feet  thick,  and  weighs  upwards  of 
700  tons.  These,  surely,  are  proportions  worthy  of  a 
true  dolmen. 


6  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

*. 

More  extraordinary  still,  some  altars  have  been  found 
which  have  a  hollow  carved  in  them  exactly  the  shape  of 
the  human  body.  In  this  hollow,  as  in  a  mould,  the  body 
of  the  victim  was  laid.  Upon  the  tables  of  many  dolmen?, 
among  others  the  celebrated  Merchants'  Tables,  at  Loch- 
mariaker,  can  still  be  recognised  the  form  of  a  hatchet 
or  mason's  trowel  traced  upon  the  stone.  This  was  a 
symbol  that  was  very  common  in  primitive  times.  During 
the  Roman  era,  trowels  were  found  pictured  upon  monu- 
ments, with  the  inscription  Sub  ascia  written  beneath.  The 
expression  was  meant  to  signify  that  the  monument  was  yet 
under  the  trowel — devoted  to  the  purposes  of  a  tomb ;  the 
device,  it  is  supposed,  being  resorted  to  in  order  to  protect 
empty  sepulchres  from  injury. 

Dolmens,  or  burial  grottos,  have  in  some  instances 
groves  or  covered  walks  attached  to  them,  which  form 
avenues  leading  up  to  them.  In  the  diocese  of  Munster, 
in  Prussia,  there  is  an  alley  of  this  kind  where  a  hundred 
sheep  can  find  shelter.  Near  Saumur,  in  France,  another 
specimen  exists  in  the  shape  of  an  entire  gallery  55  feet 
long,  and  6  feet  high,  the  width  being  about  14  feet  Each 
of  its  huge  sides  is  formed  of  four  stones,  the  floor  is 
composed  of  a  single  slab,  and  all  of  them  are  inclined 
towards  the  interior.  Four  stones  also  compose  the  roof, 
and  one  of  them,  split  up  through  its  whole  length,  is  sus- 
tained by  a  single  pillar.  Such  figures  and  measurements 
speak  for  themselves. 

The  longest  of  these  covered  avenues  is  at  Esse  (Ille 
et  Vilaine),  and  the  most  curious  near  Lochmariakert  in  the 
little  isle  of  Gavrinnis.  Twenty-three  upright  stones  placed 
together  range  themselves  in  walls  under  ten  enormous 
slabs.  Everywhere  at  Gavrinnis  extend  parallel  lines,  oval  or 


CELTIC   MONUMENTS.  9 

semi-circular  zigzags,  fantastic  labyrinths,  and  circles  within 
circles,  which  it  would  be  even  more  difficult  to  understand 
than  to  describe,  Serpents,  coins,  and  hatchet-heads  can 
yet  be  distinctly  traced  among  the  carvings. 

Numerous  sculptures  are  everywhere  to  be  found  upon 
the  Celtic  monuments,  but  in  this  respect  Gavrinnis  is 
unquestionably  the  most  remarkable.  Those  dolmens  which 
have  covered  ways  were,  perhaps,  in  former  times,  always 
sunk  under  ground,  beneath  the  artificial  hillocks  that 
covered  the  dead,  and  to  which  the  Latin  name  tumulus  is 
applied.  Primitive  architecture  in  the  West  seems  in  these 
cases  to  have  achieved  its  last  and  highest  effort.  Walls 
are  to  be  found  made  of  stones  placed  the  one  above  the 
other — vaults,  transverse  ways,  lateral  chapels,  transepts — 
such  remains,  in  fact,  as  we  might  find  in  the  excavations  of 
Egyptian  burial-places.  Both  •  England  and  France  possess 
curious  specimens  of  ancient  architectural  art,  that  in  their 
main  features  almost  realise  the  principle  upon  which  is 
based  our  modern  system  of  construction.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  is  near  Caen,  at  Fontenay-le-Marmion,  where 
can  be  seen  the  remains  of  ten  circular  vaults  from  12 
to  15  feet  in  width,  which  communicate  by  galleries  at  the 
circumference  of  the  tumulus.  Human  bones  have  been 
found  here  in  parts  of  the  soil  that  have  been  excavated. 

All  these  monuments,  stone  pillars,  cromlechs,  lines, 
dolmens,  covered  ways,  and  tumuli  are  connected  with  an 
ancient  religion  to  which  the  name  Druidic  has  been  given — 
a  religion  that  adored  supreme  power  in  the  midst  of  savage 
nature,  amidst  forests,  waters,  and  rocks,  and  contained 
within  itself  elevated  conceptions,  combined  with  practices 
of  an  extraordinary  and  cruel  kind.  The  introduction  of 
tiie  Latin  deities  into  the  countries  of  Western  Europe 


io  MARVELS  OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

produced  something  like  chaos  in  the  religion  of  the  Celts. 
Against  Christianity  the  Druids  held  out  defiantly  for  a  long 
time.  Councils  of  the  Latin  fathers  were  held,  at  which 
those  who  honoured  trees,  fountains,  and  stones  were  con- 
demned, and  these  objects  of  superstitious  regard  were 
ordered  to  be  destroyed.  King  Chilperic  threatened  those 
that  failed  to  destroy  the  sacred  relics  with  heavy  punish- 
ment. Later,  however,  the  difficulty  was  wisely  overcome 
by  consecrating  the  objects  to  which  the  people  were  much 
attached  to  the  Christian  worship ;  and  when  this  was 
done  the  stone  pillars  were  surrounded  with  crosses  and 
ornamented  with  pious  symbols.  This  procedure  had,  in 
course  of  time,  the  effect  of  uprooting  the  old  Druidical 
system  ;  but  the  custom,  in  its  turn,  gave  rise  to  superstitions, 
perhaps  more  enlightened,  but  not  less  enormous.  In  the 
centre  and  west  of  France,  even  at  the  present  day,  are  to 
be  found  substantial  traces,  under  new  forms,  of  the  religious 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  primitive  times.  The  devotions 
paid  to  what  are  supposed  to  be  the  patron  deities  of  Fear 
and  Disease,  the  votive  offerings  suspended  from  the  branches 
of  trees,  and  the  belief  in  fairies  and  goblins  which  is  still  so 
widely  spread  among  the  lower  classes  of  society,  form 
part  of  the  legacy  which  has  been  handed  down  from  this 
period. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PELASGIC  AND   ETRUSCAN   MONUMENTS. 

THE  adventurous  traveller  advancing  into  the  marshy, 
thickly-wooded  lands,  where  lie  buried  the  bones  and  the 
works  of  the  Etruscans — solitudes  which  terrible  fevers 
seem  to  guard  from  the  intrusion  of  human  curiosity — 
beholds,  under  the  oaks  and  mountain  olives,  enormous 
stones  ranged  in  the  form  of  walls — astonishing  vestiges  of 
the  work  of  man.  Leaving  out  of  view  the  tumuli  which 
enclose  specimens  of  vaulted  chambers  and  of  masonry, 
the  Celtic  monuments,  strictly  speaking,  ought  not  to  be 
included  at  all  within  the  pale  of  architecture.  But  the 
case  is  far  different  with  the  Pelasgic  and  Etruscan  relics. 
Standing  in  their  midst,  the  beholder  cannot  fail  to  recog- 
nise that  they  are  based  upon  the  system  of  true  architectural 
construction,  the  predominant  characteristics  of  which  are 
extreme  simplicity  and  power.  And,  taking  into  account 
the  enormous  size  of  the  stones,  and  the  solidity  with  which 
they  are  fitted  together  without  cement  of  any  kind,  so  that 
time  has  not  been  able  to  displace  them,  he  may  well  be 
tempted  to  think  that  degenerate  man  in  these  times  has  lost 
much  of  the  power  of  his  ancestors. 

M.  Petit-Radel,  a  Frenchman,  enjoys  the  honour  of 
having,  at  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  dis- 
covered the  Pelasgic  monuments  of  Western  Italy,  and  traced 
in  them  copies  of  those  that  were  already  known  to  exist  in 
Tirynthia  and  Argos.  His  theory  on  the  subject  does  not 


12  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

seem  to  have  been  ever  shaken.  He  fixes  the  period  of  the 
great  Pelasgic  movement  between  the  twentieth  and  the  fif- 
teenth century  before  our  era.  The  Pelasgi  setting  out  from 
Asia  at  a  time  not  determined,  but  without  doubt  at  an 
epoch  posterior  to  that  of  the  Celts,  appear  to  have  traversed 
Asia  Minor,  leaving  some  settlement  behind  in  Cappadocia. 
According  to  the  opinion  of  ancient  geographers,  they 
peopled  Ionia,  ^Eolia,  Caria,  Thracia,  Epirus,  Macedonia, 
Thessalia,  and  overran  all  Greece.  Gradually  advancing 
either  from  one  island  to  another,  or  crossing  the  mainland 
by  way  of  Thracia  and  Illyria,  they  reached  Etruria  and  the 
Roman  States,  and  the  wave  of  their  emigration  broke 
upon  the  coasts  of  France  and  Spain. 

Of  the  structures  which  they  reared  in  Asia,  mention 
need  only  be  made  of  the  Acropolis  of  Sipylus.  This 
temple  formed  a  double  enclosure,  very  well  built  with  rect- 
angular stones.  Near  the  outer  wall  was  a  great  tumulus 
280  feet  in  extent,  the  base  of  which  was  surrounded  by 
many-sided  irregular  stones,  well  fitted  the  one  to  the 
other.  Access  to  the  top  was  gained  by  means  of  a  great 
stair,  of  which  some  steps  still  remain.  This  acropolis 
formed  the  tomb  of  Tantalus,  son  of  Jupiter  and  King  of 
Lydia,  who  died  about  1410  before  our  era;  at  least, 
Pausanias  speaks  of  having  seen  the  grave  of  Tantalus  at 
Sipylus. 

Passing  from  Asia,  Pelasgic  rums  are  seen  to  abound  in 
ancient  Argolis — a  land  famous  for  the  adventures  of  Pelops, 
of  Thyestes,  and  of  Atreus;  and  for  the  assembly  of  the 
great  Hellenic  army  under  the  command  of  Agamemnon. 
At  Tirynthia,  the  town  of  Hercules,  rises  a  powerful  citadel 
which  Pausanias  has  described,  and  which  is  fully  2,000  years 
old.  Euripides  has  attributed  its  construction  to  the  Cyclops, 


PELASGIC   AND    ETRUSCAN    MONUMENTS.    '  13 

the  mythical  blacksmiths.  The  enclosure  is  formed  of 
many-sided  blocks  placed  the  one  above  the  other  without 
cement,  smaller  stones  being  placed  between  the  larger  ones 
to  fill  up  the  spaces  and  bind  the  structures  more  completely 
together.  Extraordinary  labour  is  said  to  have  been  expended 
upon  the  work,  no  secoad  stone  being  laid  until  the  one  that 
had  already  been  placed  was  firmly  fixed ;  so  that  by  slow 
and  successive  degrees  a  wall  was  at  length  made  which  even 
cannon-balls  could  only  with  difficulty  destroy.  The  prin- 
cipal parts  of  this  relic  date  from  the  eighteenth  century 
before  our  era ;  but  some  portions  of  the  wall,  more  regular 
in  construction,  were  built  in  the  fifteenth  century  before  the 
Christian  era. 

Next  in  order  may  be  noticed  the  acropolis  at  Mycenae, 
the  double  enclosure  of  which  presents  three  different  styles 
of  workmanship,  corresponding  without  doubt  to  three  suc- 
cessive epochs.  Here  are  to  be  found  in  all  directions 
irregular  polygonal  blocks  of  stone,  some  rough  on  the  sur- 
face, others  smooth  and  well  jointed.  The  most  ancient 
part  of  this  structure,  supposed  to  have  been  raised  by 
Mycenas  (1700  B.C.),  is  in  limestone;  but  the  more  recent 
part,  built  by  Perseus  (1390  B.C.),  is  in  puddingstone. 

Entrance  into  the  acropolis  is  obtained  by  the  "  Gate  of 
the  Lions."  The  blocks  forming  this  are  enormous  in  size, 
quadrangular  and  horizontal.  They  are  15  feet  high  and 
9  feet  broad,  and  the  opening  is  surmounted  by  a  huge 
lintel  of  which  the  three  dimensions  are  15  feet  long,  6 
feet  broad,  and  3  feet  thick.  A  bas-relief,  7  feet  high 
and  10  feet  broad  at  the  base,  forms  a  sort  of  triangular 
pediment  over  the  gate,  within  which  are  sculptured  two 
lions  standing  on  their  hind-feet,  resting  their  fore-paws 
upon  a  pillar  placed  between  them,  so  as  to  face  each  other. 


14  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

Their  heads,  which  have  been  broken,  formerly  reached  the 
height  of  the  capital  of  the  pillar.  This  pillar  increases 
gradually  in  diameter  from  base  to  summit,  and  its  capital  is 
supported  upon  four  discs,  which  are  supposed  to  represent 
the  billets  of  wood  meant  to  maintain  the  sacred  fire.  An 
explanation  of  this  latter  fact  is  to  be  found  in  the  pillar 
itself,  which  has  the  form  of  an  altar. 

This  "Gate  of  the  Lions"  formed,  as  we  have  said,  the 
chief  entrance  to  the  Acropolis.  There  were  two  others  of 
which  the  smaller  presented  a  triangular  bay,  formed  by  two 
stones  inclined  the  one  towards  the  other. 

"  There  is  still  to  be  seen  at  Mycenae,"  says  Pausanias, 
"the  fountain  of  Perseus,  and  the  subterranean  chambers 
\vhere  it  is  said  Atreus  and  his  children  concealed  their 
treasures.  Near  it  is  the  tomb  of  Atreus  and  of  all  those 
whom  Agamemnon  brought  back  with  him  after  the  Trojan 
war,  and  whom  ^Egisthus  destroyed  at  the  feast  which  he 
gave  them."  Tradition  points  out  a  tumulus  near  the 
Acropolis  as  being  the  subterranean  chamber  in  which  Atreus 
kept  his  treasure.  The  facade  of  this  chamber  alone  is 
visible,  the  vault  itself  being  entered  by  a  wide  high  door, 
the  flat  lintel  of  which  is  surmounted  by  an  empty  triangular 
space.  Two  mouldings  ornament  the  architrave  and  the 
jambs.  Of  the  two  stones  of  the  lintel,  the  largest  must 
have  weighed  about  170  tons,  seeing  that  in  size  it  is 
nearly  210  cubic  feet,  and  measures  26  feet  long  by  32 
broad. 

A  long  and  wide  passage,  60  feet  by  18  feet,  leads 
into  a  very  large  circular  hall.  All  the  courses  in  horizontal 
beds  have  been  placed  the  one  above  the  other,  but  projecting 
inwards.  The  angles,  however,  have  been  cut  away,  so  that 
the  wall  from  the  foundation  to  the  centre  of  the  vault  forms 


r  ~-5*m$**... 

Bfc3«.«i-.-— .-ii  -.-..    —— —  MII  !••  •••iMiiiia  '  'I 


m 


Ruins  at  Mycenae:  I.  Tomb  of  Atreus.  2.  Gate  of  the  Lions 


PELASGIC    AND    ETRUSCAN    MONUMENTS.  17 

a  surface  regularly  curved.  In  this  way  a  vault,  bold  in  its  out- 
line, has  been  produced  somewhat  in  the  form  of  a  bee-hive, 
the  walls  of  which  are  18  feet  thick.  Nothing  obstructs 
the  entrance  to  this  subterraneous  abode  now,  and  no  trace 
of  iron-work,  such  as  is  used  in  the  construction  of  gates  or 
doors,  has  ever  been  found ;  but  notwithstanding  this,  it  is 
possible  that  high  palisades  were  planted  in  the  soil  in  front 
of  the  entrance,  or  that  the  latter  was  concealed  by  masses 
of  earth  heaped  up  before  it,  which  was  removed  when 
circumstances  rendered  it  necessary. 

Among  the  forty-one  Pelasgic  monuments  examined  in 
Italy,  those  of  Monte  Circello,  twenty  miles  from  Rome, 
present  a  most  picturesque  appearance.  They  are  placed 
on  a  mountain  which,  at  seven  different  points,  rises  to  the 
height  of  1,500  feet  above  the  sea.  On  the  summit  is  the 
temple  of  Circe.  Here  is  shown  the  tomb  of  Elpenor, 
one  of  the  companions  of  Ulysses,  whose  figure  Circe 
changed  'into  that  of  a  brute.  It  is  a  flattened  cone, 
regularly  formed  of  courses  of  quadrangular  stones,  and 
occupies  a  space  of  39  square  feet 

In  the  houses  and  in  the  churches  also  of  Alatri  can  be 
traced  distinctly  three  successive  periods.  The  Pelasgic  has 
become  Roman,  and  the  Roman  has  become  in  turn  Chris- 
tian ;  but  the  original  character  still  remains.  St.  Peter  has 
only  taken  the  place  of  the  god  Faunus.  The  Pelasgic 
epoch  has  preserved  its  aspect  and  character  intact  in  a 
square  Lupercol,  dedicated  to  Pan,  and  more  especially  in 
certain  gates  that  are  surmounted  by  enormous  lintels. 
Upon  one  of  the  architraves  of  the  Acropolis  are  seen 
emblematic  sculptures;  also  in  different  places  there  are 
three  very  distinct  figures  of  Pan,  Hermes,  and  Faunus. 

At  Cervetri  or  Caere  again,  the  capital  of  the  ancient  King 

c 


1 8  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Mezence,  there  has  been  discovered  a  very  large  tomb,  or 
rather  a  tumulus  covered  by  another  tumulus,  where  five 
burial  chambers  abut  upon  two  very  long  and  narrow  halls, 
vaulted  in  the  corbelling  fashion,  and  pierced  with  elliptical 
excavations.  In  one  of  these  halls  a  chariot,  and  also  some 
arms,  vases,  and  small  graven  figures,  were  found  to  have 
been  placed  beside  the  bronze  bed  upon  which  it  was  the 
custom  to  put  the  dead.  The  excavations  that  have  been 
cut  in  the  rock  are  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  and  con- 
taining as  they  were  found  to  do  cinerary  urns,  in  which  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  were  deposited,  the  deduction  may  be 
drawn  that  even  at  a  very  remote  period  the  influence  of 
Greek  and  Latin  customs  had  begun  to  be  felt 


CHAPTER  III. 

EGYPT. 

ON  either  bank  of  the  Nile  ancient  Egypt  accumulated 
temples,  palaces,  and  tombs,  the  vastness  of  whose  ruins 
proves  that  a  mighty  civilisation  existed  upon  the  earth  at 
a  time  when  the  Persians  and  Greeks  herded  their  flocks 
on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  Everybody  has  heard  of 
the  pyramids,  from  the  summit  of  which  "  forty  centuries 
look  down  upon  you."  Napoleon  would  have  been  more 
accurate  had  he  said  sixty,  for  their  average  age  may  be  set 
down  at  4,000  years  dating  from  before  Christ.  These 
marvellous  structures  are  said  to  have  been  erected  by  three 
kings  of  the  fourth  dynasty — Cheops,  Cephrenes,  and 
Marinus.  A  hundred  thousand  men,  who  relieved  each 
other  in  relays  every  three  months,  were  employed  for  thirty 
years  in  excavating  the  tomb  of  Cheops  in  the  rock,  and 
covering  it  with  a  mountain  of  masonry  which  measures  470 
feet  in  height  by  570  feet  in  breadth.  Built  wholly  of  per- 
fectly adjusted  stones  of  the  dimensions  of  thirty  feet,  the 
Great  Pyramid  rises  to  its  summit  by  regular  steps  or  grada- 
tions. Formerly  it  was  covered  by  a  reddish  coating  to 
which  Herodotus  refers,  and  its  surface  quite  swarmed  with 
inscriptions.  The  blocks  composing  it  were  smooth  as  a 
mirror,  and  its  lofty  and  narrow  point  seemed  to  pierce  the 
sky ;  but  at  the  present  day  its  summit  is  terminated  by  a 
flat  surface,  created  by  the  ravages  of  time. 

Situated  two  leagues  from  the  Nile,  and  about  the  same 

C    2 


20  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

distance  from  Cairo,  upon  the  exterior  elevations  of  the 
Lybian  chain  of  hills,  the  pyramids  tower  over  all  the  sur- 
rounding country.  They  can  be  seen  from  a  great  distance, 
and  the  traveller  journeying  towards  them  imagines  every 
moment  that  he  is  on  the  point  of  arriving  at  their  base,  but 
like  the  mirage  they  seem  to  recede  as  he  advances.  "At 
length,  however,  they  are  reached,"  says  Volney,  "  and 
nothing  can  express  the  variety  of  sensations  which  they 
provoke.  The  height  of  their  summit,  the  steepness  of  their 
slope,  the  vastness  of  their  surface,  their  tremendous  weight, 
the  memory  of  the  times  they  have  outlived,  and,  above  all, 
the  reflection  that  these  mountains  of  masonry  have  been 
reared  by  petty  and  insignificant  man,  who  creeps  at  their 
feet — all  impress  the  beholder,  and  fill  at  once  the  heart 
and  the  mind  with  astonishment,  terror,  humiliation,  admi- 
ration, and  respect." 

Profound  as  is  the  impression  created  at  the  foot  of  the 
pyramid — where  the  spectator,  face  to  face  with  the  enormous 
mass,  loses  the  full  view  of  the  angles  and  the  summit — it  is 
only  after  ascending  to  the  top  that  he  obtains  a  just  idea 
of  the  whole,  and  finds  expectation  eclipsed  by  reality.  From 
the  summit  the  eye  might  traverse  a  distance  of  thirty-six 
miles,  were  the  human  vision  capable  of  distinguishing 
objects  so  far  away.  A  stone  thrown  with  the  greatest 
possible  force  does  not  clear  the  base,  but  usually  falls  upon 
some  of  the  lower  steps.  Owing  to  a  common  optical 
illusion,  he  who  casts  the  stone  imagines  that  he  has  sent 
his  missile  to  a  great  distance ;  but,  as  the  eye  follows  it,  the 
stone  seems  to  turn  back  and  it  falls  only  at  the  foot  of  the 
vast  structure. 

The  interior  of  the  Great  Pyramid  seems  to  be  full 
Only  one  long  gallery,  smaller  in  proportion  than  the 


EGYPT.  31 

burrowed  passage  of  a  mole  under  a  hillock,  has  been 
discovered.  A  small  opening,  at  the  height  of  45  feet 
above  the  base,  gives  access  into  a  succession  of  obscure 
passages.  Here  locomotion  is  tedious  and  dangerous,  the 
cold  extreme,  and  the  air  thick  and  stifling.  The  traveller 
is  compelled  to  advance  in  a  stooping  position,  placing  his 
feet  as  he  goes  upon  narrow  ledges  which  overhang  a  black 
abyss.  This  perilous  path  is  succeeded  by  a  low  gallery, 
where  he  has  to  creep  along  a  steep  slope,  and  that  in  turn 
by  a  well  without  a  parapet,  which  it  is  necessary  to  cross. 
Finally,  pushed,  dragged,  carried  on  stout  shoulders,  the 
adventurous  explorer  succeeds  in  traversing  the  chamber 
called  the  Queen's  Room,  and  arrives  at  the  King's  Hall. 
Nor  is  the  return  less  difficult ;  and  when  at  last  the  traveller 
once  more  emerges  into  daylight,  it  is  in  a  state  of  complete 
exhaustion. 

It  is  customary  to  shout  aloud,  and  even  to  fire  oft 
muskets  in  this  subterranean  quarter,  in  order  to  produce  an 
echo,  the  reverberation  of  the  pyramids  being  <  elebrated  for 
the  sound  repeating  itself  no  less  than  ten  times.  This  echo 
owes  its  strength  and  its  purity  to  the  perfection  of  the 
ceilings  and  the  points.  The  whole  of  the  King's  Chamber 
is  wrought  out  of  granite  exquisitely  polished,  and  the  ceil- 
ing is  formed  of  nine  stones,  each  of  which  must  be  about 
2,000  Ibs.  in  weight. 

But  the  King's  and  Queen's  Chambers,  which  are  only 
from  1 6  to  32  feet  wide,  form  quite  an  insignificant  abode 
for  such  a  formidable  roof  as  that  of  the  Great  Pyramid 
which  covers  them.  Can  it  be  possible  that  there  are 
not  other  spaces  above  and  below  these  small  rooms,  or 
is  it  possible  to  conceive  that  this  huge  pyramid  was 
piled  up  simply  to  contain  two  such  chambers?  Where 


12  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

ends  the  abyss  along  which  the  explorer  travels?  Where 
would  the  well  lead  to  if  some  bold  spirit  should  suspend, 
himself  in  it  at  the  end  of  a  rope  ?  Perhaps  to  that  sub- 
terranean spot  where  Herodotus  believed  Cheops  to  lie 
interred.  Diligent  searches  in  the  interior  of  this  colossus 
might  yet  reveal  much,  for  it  is  well  known  with  what 
care  the  Egyptians  concealed  their  places  of  sepulture. 

Three  hundred  feet  in  front  of  the  Great  Pyramid  may 
be  seen  the  mysterious  Sphinx,  the  head  of  which  is  27  feet 
high.  This  strange  figure  is  carved  out  of  the  rock :  it  is 
sunk  in  the  sand  up  to  the  shoulders,  and  has  been  partly 
eaten  away  by  time,  for  its  nose  and  lips  are  both  broken. 

Squat  as  the  figure  at  first  sight  appears  to  be,  it  yet  rises 
to  the  height  of  75  feet  above  its  natural  base.  West- 
wards from  this  extends,  in  four  ranks,  an  almost  endless 
number  of  rectangular  and  oblong  constructions,  perfectly 
equal,  and  covering  an  area  not  less  than  that  of  the  Great 
Pyramid  itself.  A  rampart  of  smaller  and  ruinous  pyramids 
surrounds  the  pyramid  of  Cheops  en  the  south  and  east. 
Might  not  this  have  been  the  necropolis  of  Memphis,  that 
great  city,  sacred  and  royal,  the  rise  of  which  is  now  marked 
by  a  palm-grove  ? 

Hundreds  of  miles  south  of  the  pyramids,  where  the 
valley  of  the  Nile  opens  out,  lie  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  the 
ancient  rival  of  Memphis — Thebes  with  the  Hundred  Gates, 
as  it  was  named  by  Homer.  These  vast  ruins  still  overrun 
the  lower  slopes  of  the  western  mountains  towards  the  gorges 
of  Biban-el-Molouk,  where  are  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings. 
Medinet  on  the  left  bank,  Gournah,  Luxor,  and  Karnak  on 
the  right,  form  a  majestic  collection  of  architectural  remains, 
which  the  army  of  Desaix  beholding,  saluted  with  enthusiasm. 
Desolation  reigns  in  the  whole  of  this  vast  space,  if  a  few 


EGYPT.  23 

villages  or  hamlets  are  excepted,  the  huts  of  which  are 
miserable,  the  streets  narrow,  and  the  mud  walls  built 
upon  rubbish.  The  whole  place,  in  its  relation  to  the 
extinct  cities,  is  suggesive  of  unhealthy  weeds  growing 
around  the  feet  of  ancient  oaks. 

The  palace  of  Karnak,  which  is  the  first  great  ruin  seen 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile,  originally  covered  an  area  of 
270  acres  enclosed  within  a  wall  of  unbaked  bricks.  This 
wall  is  still  visible  in  parts,  though  what  remains  is  not  a 
tenth  part  of  what  has  perished.  Of  these  ruins  the  principal 
masses  are  grouped  upon  a  straight  line,  which  may  be 
named  the  great  axis,  and  which  runs  from  north-west  to 
south-east.  This  axis  is  cut  by  another  line  of  architectural 
remains  which  runs  from  north  to  south,  and  consists  of 
palaces  ari^d  avenues  of  sphinxes.  Upon  the  same  bank, 
the  remains  of  a  vast  staircase  and  numerous  fragments  of 
the  sphinx  and  rams'  heads  show  the  site  and  dimensions 
of  what  was  a  magnificent  avenue,  terminated  by  two 
pylones — tapering  square  towers,  of  gigantic  proportions. 
These  pylones  form  the  entrance  to  a  court,  surrounded  by 
ruined  temples,  obstructed  by  the  shafts  of  vast  votive 
columns,  among  twelve  of  which  only  one  remains  upright 

Passing  between  two  ruinous  pylones  and  a  propylone, 
a  magnificent  gate  is  reached,  which  would  be  a  triumphal 
arch  were  it  not  that  an  architrave  is  found  where  the  semi- 
circle should  be. 

All  that  has  been  described  formed  only  the  vestibule  of 
the  great  hall,  which  has  been  named  the  Hypostyle,  or 
the  Hall  ot  Columns. 

A  symmetrical  forest  of  oaks  and  beeches  ten  centuries 
old  would  not  give  an  adequate  idea  of  its  thirty  parallel 
ranks  of  columns  No  tree,  for  instance,  could  attain  the 


24  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

diameter,  or  the  height  even,  of  the  twelve  great  column? 
that  form  the  axis  of  the  hall.  Twelve  columns  like  the 
Monument  on  Fish  Street  Hill  might  give  the  reader  some 
idea  of  the  vastness  of  these  pillars.  The  enormous  mono- 
lith capitals — heavy  enough,  one  would  think,  to  crush  any 
pillar — oppress  the  imagination  with  their  size.  A  hundred 
men  could  stand  on  one  of  them  without  crowding.  Never 
have  greater  masses  of  stone  been  laid  than  these.  A  few 
statistics  may  give  some  notion  of  the  vastness  of  these 
ruins. 

The  hall  itself  is  422  feet  long  by  165  feet  broad.  The 
stones  of  the  ceiling  rest  upon  architraves  supported  by 
134  columns,  which  are  still  standing,  and  of  which  the 
largest  measures  10  feet  in  diameter,  and  more  than  72  feet 
in  height.  Sesostris  and  his  two  predecessors  constructed 
the  Hall  of  Columns,  and  the  date  of  its  construction  was 
about  the  fourteenth  and  thirteenth  centuries  before  Christ. 

Besides  the  ruins  of  the  gallery  or  hall  described,  there 
are  other  pylones,  another  court  with  an  obelisk,  and  the 
ruins  of  the  gallery  of  the  Colossi.  Here  is  to  be  seen  the 
largest  obelisk  in  the  whole  of  Egypt.  It  is  over  90  feet 
in  height ;  its  sculptures  are  perfect  in  execution,  and 
some  are  more  beautiful  than  the  perfected  arts  of  Europe 
could  even  yet  produce.  At  its  feet  lie  the  fragments  ;.? 
another  obelisk  which  was  a  sort  of  pendant  to  it.  Gazing 
on  what  he  sees  around,  the  imagination  of  the  traveller; 
as  it  were,  reconstructs  the  building,  and  setting  upon  their 
bases  once  more  the  sixty-two  sculptured  pillars  in  the 
form  of  giant  caryatides,  he  begins  to  have  some  idea  of  the 
grandeur  and  vastness  of  the  original. 

Further  on  we  come  to  a  small  temple  in  red  granite, 
the  site  of  which  is  rendered  conspicuous  by  two  obelisks. 


EGYPT.  27 

This  temple  was  richly  ornamented,  and  contained  two 
parallel  ranges  of  chambers  in  which  the  priests  lodged. 
It  lies  at  the  portico  of  the  palace  of  Mceris.  Three  of  the 
walls  of  this  vestibule  sustain  thirty-two  square  pillars  and 
twenty-four  columns,  and  present  to  the  gaze  four  ranks  of 
persons,  seated  the  one  above  the  other.  This  is  the  most 
ancient  portion  of  Karnak,  and  it  is  also  the  most  muti- 
lated. Courts  full  of  rubbish,  a  chaos  of  columns  and 
bassi-rilievi,  are  all  that  now  remains  of  the  palace  of  Mceris. 

Three  or  four  hundred  miles  to  the  north  we  next  notice 
a  large  propylone,  raised  by  the  successors  of  Alexander, 
which  an  avenue  covered  with  ddbris  connects  with  the 
central  mass.  On  the  south,  a  majestic  temple  dedicated 
to  the  divinity  Kons,  also  connected  with  the  Hall  of 
Columns,  commanded  a  long  road  which  is  now  lost  in 
plantations  of  sugar-cane  and  palm-trees,  but  the  direction 
of  which  can  still  be  made  out.  This  triumphal  way  was 
originally  bordered  throughout  all  its  length  with  monolith 
sphinxes,  no  less  than  112  having  been  counted  within  a 
space  of  650  yards.  Taking  the  total,  there  must  have 
been  1,000  sphinxes,  seeing  that  the  road  along  which  they 
were  ranged  was  upwards  of  a  mile  long. 

In  ascending  the  Nile  from  Thebes  to  the  first  cataract, 
we  pass  numerous  collections  of  ruins — Hermonthis,  Esneh, 
Edfou,  Com-Ombos,  Philae,  Deboud,  Kartas,  Kalabche, 
Talmis,  Dandour,  Ghirch-Hussein,  Pselcis,  Maharakka, 
Seboua,  Deer,  Ibrim.  At  some  distance  from  the  cataracts 
of  Ouadi-Alfa,  the  two  temples  of  Ipsamboul  are  seen, 
worked  out  of  the  rock  by  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  form- 
ing wonderful  caverns  which  will  last  as  long  as  the  world. 

The  greater  temple,  143  feet  long  by  140  feet  high,  has 
in  front  of  it  four  sitting  statues,  leaning  with  their  backs 


aS  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

against  the  mountain  of  rock  of  which  they  form  a  part, 
and  which  are  not  less  than  120  feet  in  height.  Thirty-two 
seated  figures  decorate  the  cornice.  There  are  a  number 
of  smaller  figures  in  the  interior,  whose  height  is  25 
feet.  The  walls  are  covered  with  enormous  bassi-rilievi. 
Upon  the  altars  of  the  three  demi-gods  Ammon,  Phre,  and 
Phta  are  found  huge  carvings  representing  Sesostris,  the 
conqueror  of  Africa  and  Asia.  His  wife,  Nofre-Ari,  served 
as  the  model  for  the  six  colossal  figures,  36  feet  in 
height,  which  are  ranged  in  front  of  the  little  temple  dedi- 
cated to  the  goddess  Hator.  The  severe  gloom  of  these 
sanctuaries  has  been  well  described  by  Lamennais  : — "  A 
single  thought,"  says  he,  "  dominates  Egypt — a  grave  and  sad 
thought,  not  to  be  driven  away,  and  which,  from  Pharaoh 
surrounded  with  the  splendour  of  the  throne  to  the  humblest 
of  his  labourers,  weighs  upon  man,  preoccupies  him  inces- 
santly, possesses  him  entirely :  this  thought  is  the  thought 
of  death.  This  people,  seeing  time  gliding  onward  like 
the  waters  of  the  great  river  that  traverses  their  naked 
plains,  were  led  to  believe  that  what  passes  so  quickly 
is  unreal  and  evanescent;  and  regarding  the  present  life  as 
fleeting  and  unsatisfactory,  they  were  prompted  by  their 
faith,  by  their  desires  and  aspirations,  to  look  forward  to 
a  life  that  is  permanent  and  immutable.  Existence,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Egyptian,  commenced  at  the  tomb — and 
that  which  preceded  death  was  only  a  shadow — a  fleeting 
image.  Thus  his  religious  conceptions,  his  philosophical 
speculations,  his  dogmas,  all  tended  in  the  direction  of  this 
great  mystery  of  death,  and  his  temple  became  a  sepulchre." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ASIATIC   ARCHITECTURE. 

THE  Temple  of  Jerusalem,  built  by  Solomon  about  the 
tenth  century  before  our  era,  reconstructed  by  Esdras  in  the 
time  of  Cyrus,  and  ruined  by  Titus,  was  a  triple  edifice ;  being 
at  once  a  place  of  assembly  foi  the  people,  a  dwelling-place 
for  the  Levites,  and  a  place  of  worship  wherein  the  high 
priest  officiated.  In  the  centre  was  the  temple,  properly  so 
called ;  around  it  were  the  courts  of  the  priests ;  and  on  the 
outside  the  courts  of  the  people,  together  with  the  galleries 
for  strangers  and  proselytes.  The  people  dared  not  pene- 
trate within  the  second  wall;  the  priests  were  excluded  from 
certain  parts  of  the  central  portion  of  the  temple ;  and  the 
high  priest  alone  and  that  only  once  a  year,  might  pass 
within  the  veil  to  the  Holy  of  Holies,  and  contemplate  the 
ark  of  the  covenant  face  to  face. 

The  temple  was  situated  upon  Mount  Moriah  and  over- 
looked Jerusalem.  A  combination  of  walls  and  colonnades, 
it  seems,  like  all  the  Phoenician  and  Jewish  structures, 
to  have  excelled  more  on  account  of  the  richness  of  its 
decorations  than  its  architectural  merits.  Precious  metals 
were  profusely  used  in  its  ornamentation.  Josephus,  who 
saw  it  in  all  its  glory  in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  has 
described  with  pride  its  ceilings  of  polished  cedar,  enriched 
with  gilded  leaves;  its  columns  of  bronze,  18  cubits  high; 
its  cornices  also  of  bronze,  sculptured  with  lilies  and 
pomegranates ;  its  wonderful  doors  of  cedar,  enriched  with 


30  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

gold  and  silver;  and  its  magnificent  curtains  of  linen, 
embroidered  with  purple  and  scarlet. 

The  central  part  of  the  temple,  intended  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  high  priest  and  the  priests  engaged  in 
sacrifices,  was  60  cubits  long  by  20  wide,  and  presented 
three  tiers  or  storeys,  rising  above  each  other,  surrounded 
by  galleries  and  small  chambers.  Its  height  was  equal 
to  its  length.  A  vast  portico,  access  to  which  was  gained 
from  the  east  side,  surrounded  this  lofty  and  splendid 
building.  Both  tradition  and  the  Bible  attribute  the  con- 
struction and  furnishing  of  the  temple  to  a  great  Tyrian 
artist,  named  Adoniram,  who  was  at  once  its  architect, 
sculptor,  and  builder. 

Perhaps  an  inexact  idea  will  not  be  given  of  the  Jewish 
structures  if  they  are  likened  to  the  monuments  left  by  other 
nations  descended,  like  the  Hebrews,  from  the  Semitic  stock, 
and  who  were  continually  mixed  up  the  one  with  the  other, 
either  as  enemies  or  oppressors. 

Nineveh  and  Babylon  were  the  immediate  predecessors 
of  Tyre  and  Jerusalem. 

Nineveh,  the  ancient  capital  of  Assyria,  is  said  to  have 
been  founded  by  a  legendary  chief  named  Assur.  Historians, 
however,  declare  that  it  is  the  town  of  Ninus  or  Ninias. 
At  a  period  even  earlier  than  Babylon  the  people  of  this 
city  were  the  victorious  enemies  of  the  Jews.  On  a  bas- 
relief  still  in  existence  can  be  recognised  King  Jehu  of 
Israel,  who  was  a  tributary  of  the  kings  of  Assyria. 

The  inspired  writers  of  the  Bible  speak  with  terror  of 
Sargon,  Sennacherib,  and  Salmanazar.  Jonas,  the  Hebrew 
prophet,  no  doubt  made  prisoner  in  some  invasion,  went 
about  the  streets  of  Nineveh  crying,  "  Yet  forty  days,  and 
Nineveh  shall  be  destroyed  !"  Enervating  luxury,  the  weak- 


ASIATIC   ARCHITECTURE.  3! 

ness  of  the  kings,  and  the  hostility  of  powerful  Babylon 
combined  to  bring  ruin  upon  this  immense  town.  Besieged, 
taken,  and  sacked  in  625  B.C.,  but  still  known  in  the  time 
of  Tacitus,  who  mentions  its  capture  in  the  time  of  Claudius 
49  A.D.,  it  was  at  length  so  completely  effaced  from  the  earth, 
that  till  the  year  1842  even  its  site  remained  all  but  un- 
known. According  to  Diodorus  of  Sicily,  the  city  wall 
measured  18  leagues,  was  95  feet  high,  and  was  flanked 
with  gigantic  towers.  It  contained  600,000  inhabitants. 

Long  buried  from  human  sight,  its  glory  was,  after  many 
centuries,  exhumed  as  it  were  and  brought  to  light.  A 
Frenchman,  M.  Botta,  discovered  at  Khorsabad  the  palace  of 
Sargon,  of  which  the  Asiatic  Journal  gave  a  full  description; 
and  some  years  after,  Mr.  Layard,  in  digging  in  the  Hill  of 
Nimrod,  came  upon  the  dwellings  of  Sardanapalus  and 
Salmanazar.  With  the  bassi-rilievi,  and  the  inscriptions  to 
which  it  is  supposed  the  key  has  been  found,  it  may  be 
possible  to  reconstruct  a  civilisation  that  has  disappeared, 
and  to  reinvest  the  heroes  of  that  land  with  the  environ- 
ments in  which  they  lived,  moved,  and  had  their  being. 

M.  Botta  commenced  his  researches  in  1842,  and  the 
French  government  published  the  results  in  a  magnificent 
work,  illustrated  from  designs  by  M.  Eugene  Flandin.  Funds, 
voted  under  the  republican  government  of  1848,  permitted 
M.  Place,  M.  Botta's  successor,  to  continue  the  researches. 
The  result  was  that  to  the  fourteen  chambers  already  ex- 
plored he  added  134  more.  Among  these  were  thirty-two 
courts  or  esplanades,  of  which  the  following  is  the  general 
plan  of  distribution  : — 

i.  The  residence  of  the  king,  embracing  chambers  or- 
namented with  bassi-rilievi.  2.  The  offices,  whose  princi- 
pal court,  upwards  of  two  acres  in  extent,  communicated 


J3  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

with  the  kitchens,  stables,  cellars,  and  the  magazines,  in 
which  have  been  found  100  tons  of  instruments  and  iron 
tools.  3.  The  harem,  the  dwelling  of  the  women,  with 
all  the  furniture  proper  for  this  purpose.  4.  The  ob- 
servatory, a  square  block  of  seven  storeys,  painted  in 
various  colours,  and  more  than  120  feet  high. 

The  king's  palace  at  Khorsabad,  with  its  vast  offices  and 
outhouses,  was  like  the  citadel  of  a  great  town.  Explora- 
tions have  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  the  wall  of  the 
enclosure.  It  was  quadrangular  in  shape,  about  80  feet 
thick;  150  towers  were  placed  along  it  at  regular  intervals; 
and  it  covered  a  space  of  two  leagues. 

The  seven  gates  of  the  town  have  been  exhumed,  of 
which  three — veritable  triumphal  arches — are  adorned  with 
sculptures. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Assyrians  to  build  vaults  both 
in  brick  and  in  stone.  One  colonnade  has  been  discovered 
of  an  entirely  new  species.  The  columns  are  distributed  in 
groups  of  seven,  and  each  of  these  groups  is  buttressed  by 
a  double  pilaster.  Another  range  of  columns,  grouped  by 
sevens  in  the  same  manner,  was  covered  with  black  mastic. 
One  of  the  gates  of  the  town,  constructed  of  great  hewn 
slabs  of  limestone,  has  preserved  its  arch,  which  can  be  seen 
in  the  form  of  a  plain  semicircle  made  of  bricks,  and  resting 
on  piers  also  built  of  bricks.  This  gate,  reckoning  from 
summit  to  base,  is  20  feet  high  and  10  feet  wide.  The 
brick  of  which  it  has  been  built  has  been  handled  with  the 
greatest  skill  and  intelligence. 

Large  numbers  of  mounds,  seen  afar  off  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Tigris,  opposite  Mossoul,  indicate  with  some- 
thing like  exactitude  the  immense  space  of  ground  occupied 
bv  Nineveh. 


Khorsabad — Assyrian  Temple  Restored. 


ASIATIC  ARCHITECTURE.  35 

Babylon,  the  town  of  Nimrod,  the  mighty  hunter,  was  but 
another  Nineveh.  Enormous  masses  of  brick-work,  covered 
with  pictures  in  enamel ;  vast  halls  ornamented  with  bassi 
rilievi,  and  covered  to  the  ceiling  with  cuneiform  inscrir> 
tions  relative  to  contemporary  events ;  houses  of  three  and 
four  storeys ;  fifty  streets  parallel  to  or  at  right  angles  with 
the  Euphrates,  and  fields  sufficiently  large  to  produce  food 
for  the  inhabitants  in  time  of  siege — all  this  magnificence 
overtowered  by  the  temple  of  Belus,  the  Hanging  Gardens, 
and  the  ramparts — such,  according  to  the  historians,  was 
Babylon,  the  city  which  was  extolled  and  admired  even  by 
the  founders  themselves. 

Daniel,  who  from  a  prisoner  cam^  to  be  chief  minister 
in  Babylon,  has  preserved  for  us  the  words  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar cqncerning  it :  "  This  is  that  great  Babylon  which  I 
have  made  the  seat  of  my  empire,  and  which  I  have  built 
in  the  grandeur  of  my  power,  and  in  the  greatness  of  my 
glory." 

The  walls  of  this  gigantic  city  were  390  feet  high  and  98 
feet  thick,  and  were  flanked  by  two  rows  of  towers,  the  one 
inside  and  the  other  outside  the  wall.  Between  the  towers 
there  was  sufficient  room  for  a  four-horse  chariot  to  turn 
easily.  A  ditch,  wide  and  deep,  banked  with  bricks  and 
filled  with  water,  surrounded  the  whole  town.  Twenty-six 
gates  of  massive  brass  gave  ingress  and  egress  on  each  of 
the  four  sides  of  the  walls. 

Perhaps  the  tower  of  the  great  temple  of  Belus  was 
among  the  most  remarkable  monuments  of  Babylon.  Eight 
gradually  diminishing  storeys  gave  it  the  look  of  a  pyramid 
with  enormous  gradients.  Upon  the  summit  stood  the 
temple,  surmounted  by  a  platform,  where  the  priests  assidu- 
ously devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  celestial  bodies. 


36  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

They  believed  that  science  was  the  supreme  aim  of  man, 
and  was  the  crown  of  religion.  This  temple  was  still  in 
existence  in  the  second  century  of  our  era. 

A  bridge,  which  Quintus  Curtius,  the  historian  of 
Alexander,  ranks  among  the  wonders  of  the  East,  united  the 
two  portions  of  the  town  on  the  respective  banks  of  the 
Euphrates ;  and  immense  reservoirs  received  and  turned 
aside  the  surplus  waters  during  the  time  of  floods.  Finally, 
all  antiquity  has  celebrated  the  praises  of  the  Hanging 
Gardens,  piled  terrace  above  terrace,  and  supported  by 
twenty  large  ramparts,  crossed  by  conduits  of  water,  and 
crowned  by  trees  that  gave  them  the  appearance  of  a 
wooded  hill. 

Babylon  had  a  long  and  a  glorious  career.  Founded,  says 
a  respectable  tradition,  by  Nirnrod,  the  mighty  hunter,  who 
disputed  the  possession  of  Chaldea  with  the  lions  and  wild 
bulls,  it  was  occupied  at  a  very  early  date  by  the  Arabs,  or 
at  least  by  those  migratory  nomads  and  shepherds  who 
wandered  about  this  time  over  the  north  of  Egypt.  Belus, 
King  of  Nineveh,  captured  the  town,  but  did  not  injure  its 
prosperity;  on  the  contrary,  he  embellished  and  strengthened 
it.  Regaining  its  independence  after  the  fall  of  Sardanapalus, 
it  became  the  capital  of  a  powerful  kingdom,  and  one  of  its 
earliest  sovereigns,  Nabonassar,  inaugurated  an  era  which 
bears  his  name,  747  B.C.  When  Nebuchadnezzar  took 
Nineveh  and  destroyed  it,  625  B.C.,  Babylon  became  the 
most  powerful  and  dominant  city  then  existing,  and  received 
the  name  of  Queen  of  the  East.  Powerful,  and  without  a 
rival,  it  held  in  subjection  the  regions  of  Bactria,  Armenia, 
Media,  Persia,  Phoenicia,  and  India.  Cyrus,  King  of 
Persia,  after  a  siege  of  two  whole  years,  made  himself  master 
of  Babylon  by  a  bold  stratagem,  and  assumed  the  title  of 


ASIATIC  ARCHITECTURE.  37 

King  of  Kings.  He  it  was  7<-*ho  reduced  the  walls  of  the 
town  to  half  their  height.  Darius,  one  of  his  successors, 
carried  away  the  gates  of  brass,  after  a  revolt.  Alexander, 
on  the  return  of  his  expedition  from  India,  made  a  triumphal 
entry  into  the  city,  and  died  there  at  the  very  time  he  was 
resolving  upon  making  it  his  capital.  Soon  after,  weakened 
by  the  neighbouring  town  of  Seleucia,  on  the  Tigris,  it 
rapidly  fell,  although  in  the  first  century  of  our  era  it  was 
still  inhabited. 

At  the  present  day,  according  to  an  observant  traveller, 
the  plain  of  Babylon  is  covered  to  the  extent  of  eighteen 
leagues  with  debris,  mounds,  aqueducts,  canals,  and  rubbish- 
heaps.  All  these  have  been  so  intermingled  that  it  is 
difficult  to  recognise  the  sites  or  the  dimensions  of  even  the 
largest  buildings.  Desolation  bears  undisputed  reign  around. 
Not  a  house,  not  a  field,  not  a  tree  in  leaf :  the  scene  is 
completely  deserted  both  by  man  and  nature.  Tigers, 
jackals,  and  serpents  have  taken  up  their  abode  in  the 
ruins,  and  frequently  the  traveller  is  terrified  by  scenting 
the  lion. 

Alexander  saved  Babylon  by  proposing  to  make  it  his 
capital,  but  he  destroyed  a  city  not  less  famous,  which  also 
deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  Marvels  of  Architecture. 
Persepolis,  the  holy  city  of  the  enemies  of  Greece,  he  was 
compelled  to  sacrifice  to  the  fury  of  his  army.  He  himself, 
it  is  said,  in  a  fit  of  drunkenness  set  fire  to  the  palace  of 
the  king.  His  companions  in  the  debauch,  and  after  them 
the  common  soldiers  of  the  army,  followed  his  example. 
"  Thus,"  says  Quintus  Curtius,  "  perished  the  capital  of  the 
East — a  city  to  which  nations  had  come  in  search  of  laws — 
a  city  that  was  the  birthplace  of  kings,  and  the  terror  of 
Greece  in  former  times — a  city  that  could  send  forth  a 


38  ARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

fleet  of  a  thousand  vessels,  and  armies  that  inundated 
Europe." 

Istakhr — the  name  by  which  Persepolis  was  known 
within  comparatively  recent  times — occupies  at  the  present 
day  a  space  of  between  four  and  five  miles  in  circumference, 
the  mounds  of  which  show  how  much  the  surface  of  the  earth 
in  this  region  has  changed.  Under  the  upper  layer  of  vege- 
tation antique  masonry  is  still  to  be  discovered.  Alone  in 
the  midst  of  these  remains  rises  a  single  upright  column, 
with  prostrate  fragments  lying  around.  This  was  the  "  town 
of  the  people,"  so  named  to  distinguish  it  from  "  the  city  of 
the  kings,"  where  dwelt  the  monarchs.  Crossing  the  canals 
and  the  marshes  which  intersect  the  plain,  the  traveller  finds 
himself  face  to  face  with  the  most  remarkable  antiquities  of 
the  whole  of  Persia. 

That  portion  of  Persepolis  known  as  the  palace  of 
the  kings  rises  and  extends  over  a  long  rampart,  divided  by 
a  gigantic  double  flight  of  steps.  Above  is  a  great  group 
of  columns,  which  still  support  vestiges  of  their  elegant 
capitals.  On  the  left  are  massive  pillars,  on  which  are  still 
to  be  seen  the  imposing  colossal  figures  which  formerly 
guarded  the  entrance  to  the  royal  dwelling.  On  the  right  is 
the  palace  in  ruins ;  whilst  afar  off  may  be  seen,  through  the 
spaces  between  the  columns,  masses  of  stone  covered  with 
symbolical  figures ;  and  yet  farther  off,  through  the  bluish 
haze  of  the  motionless  atmosphere,  hollow  tombs  excavated 
in  the  flank  of  the  mountain  which  serves  as  a  background 
of  this  imposing  landscape. 

Regarding  the  founders  of  Persepolis  nothing  is  known. 
Cyrus  and  his  successors  dwelt  for  a  long  time  at  Babylon. 
The  last  kings  of  Persia  preferred  to  stay  at  Susa  and  at 
Ecbatana.  However,  Persepolis  remained  the  sacred  city  to 


ASIATIC  ARCHITECTURE.  41 

which  the  kings  came  to  be  crowned.  What  Thebes  was  to 
Egypt  that  was  to  Persia — the  metropolis  of  the  nation,  and 
the  cradle  of  the  enormous  power  which  Greece  eventually 
crushed.  Thebes,  it  is  said,  was  built  by  the  gods ;  but  if 
so,  Persepolis  was  the  work  of  the  genii.  We  read  in  the 
"  Book  of  the  Kings  " — a  long  epic  poem,  written  in  the  tenth 
century  of  our  era,  and  which  contains  a  multitude  of  ancient 
legends — that  Djemschid,  the  fourth  king  of  the  country, 
gave  orders  to  the  genii  to  mingle  earth  and  water  togethei 
and  knead  it  into  bricks  for  the  building  of  the  city. 

Like  Persia,  the  peninsula  of  India  was  occupied  more 
than  1,000  years  before  our  era  by  a  nation  whose  language, 
ideas,  and  general  character  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to 
those  of  nations  now  inhabiting  Western  Europe.  The 
Aryan  race,  as  this  people  was  called,  have  left  behind  them 
but  a  confused  history.  But  the  books  and  the  monuments 
of  which  they  were  the  authors,  and  which  have  survived 
many  ages  and  frequent  devastations,  bear  witness  to  their 
genius.  Among  the  latter  may  be  mentioned  the  sculptured 
caverns  and  temples  of  Ellora  in  the  Deccan,  which  are 
justly  ranked  among  the  Marvels  of  Architecture.  Their 
character  is  antique,  but  their,  date  is  uncertain ;  all  that 
can  be  conjectured  being  that  the  more  ancient  portions  of 
them  belong  to  the  ages  before  Christ.  They  are  conse- 
crated to  several  divinities  of  the  Brahminic  Pantheon. 

The  hills  of  Ellora  extend  a  length  of  two  miles  in 
the  form  of  a  crescent,  turning  their  hollow  face  to  the 
west  of  the  village  of  Rozah.^  Their  flanks  are  pierced  with 
subterranean  galleries  not  less  than  two  leagues  in  extent 
Here  is  to  be  found  a  great  hall,  nearly  square,  which  is  180 
feet  long,  150  feet  broad,  and  18  feet  high.  The  roof  is 
supported  by  twenty-eight  columns.  Certain  of  the  excava- 


42  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

tions  disclose  many  storeys  which  communicate  with  each 
other. 

What  the  visitor  especially  admires,  however,  is  the 
temple  of  Kailasa,  a  magnificent  jewel  in  stone,  as  large  as 
the  Royal  Exchange  of  London,  made  of  a  single  isolated 
rock,  hollowed  within  and  magnificently  carved  without. 
Nothing  is  wanting  to  render  its  proportions,  its  grace,  and 
its  beauty  perfect.  The  hand  of  a  master  must  have 
fashioned  this  gorgeous  structure,  which  comprises  chapels, 
porticoes,  colonnades  supported  by  figures  of  elephants,  two 
basilisks  39  feet  high,  a  pagoda  100  feet  high,  flights  of 
stairs  and  galleries,  made  solemn  with  a  dim  and  almost 
a  religious  light.  The  whole  structure  covers  a  space  of  340 
feet  in  length  by  195  feet  in  breadth,  and  the  exterior  walls 
are  separated  from  the  cliff  to  which  the  rock  originally  be- 
longed by  an  excavated  passage  26  to  32  feet  in  width;  so 
that  this  wonderful  rock  temple  is  completely  isolated  in  the 
centre  of  a  court  hollowed  out  in  the  flank  of  the  hill.  Time, 
passing  over  the  walls  covered  with  innumerable  statues,  has 
blackened  them,  but  in  robbing  them  of  much  it  has  also 
imparted  to  them  a  real  beauty.  And  here  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  the  strange  sculptures  of  Ellora  are  only  to  be 
compared  to  the  shapeless  works  of  our  middle  ages';  and 
though  they  are  wanting  in  the  repose  of  the  Egyptian 
sculptures,  they  seem  to  live  and  breathe  with  a  monstrous 
life. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GREEK   ART. — I.    ATHENS. 

ALL  the  elements  of  Greek  art  can  be  traced  in  tht 
architecture  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  and  Persia.  Eastern  tradi- 
tions and  the  tuition  of  Egypt  had  undoubtedly  an  influence 
upon  the  architects  of  Sicyon  and  Paestum  ;  but  in  this,  as 
in  all  other  instances,  it  is  found  that  the  character  of  archi- 
tecture is  modified  by  that  of  the  people.  What  the  Greeks 
chiefly  strove  after  was  the  application  of  architecture  to  the 
wants  and  tastes  of  man.  Their  great  secret  was  that  they 
knew  the  range  of  human  vision.  By  the  simple  combina- 
tion of  straight  lines  they  achieved  in  architecture  a  grace, 
a  harmony,  and  a  great  and  prevailing  sweetness.  Their 
monuments  resemble  a  man  whom  a  rare  combination  of 
nobility  of  soul  and  perfect  health  of  body  elevates  above 
his  fellows.  With  none  but  ordinary  proportions  they  create 
within  us  the  sentiment  of  majesty. 

Before  describing  some  of  the  masterpieces  which  have 
been  destroyed  or  disfigured  by  successive  devastations,  it  is 
necessary  to  refer  at  least  to  the  salient  points  of  the  three 
orders  of  architecture  transmitted  by  the  Greeks  to  the 
Romans,  and  which  we  discern  again  among  the  peoples  of 
Western  Europe — the  pupils  and  heirs  of  antiquity. 

The  Doric  order,  the  most  ancient,  the  most  simple,  and 
perhaps  the  noblest  of  all,  seems  to  have  been  a  reproduction 
in  stone  or  in  marble  of  the  structures  which  the  Hellenes, 
while  yet  barbarians,  built — not  without  a  certain  grace — 


44  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

of  the  beams  furnished  by  the  Thessalian  forests.  Short, 
stumpy  columns,  thick  at  the  bottom,  generally  lightened 
by  flutings  which  softened  their  massive  and  somewhat 
clumsy  look,  rest  without  base  upon  a  continuous  sub- 
basement.  The  capital,  austere  and  without  ornamentation, 
supports  a  large  flat  stone  called  the  architrave,  also  bare 
and  unornamented.  The  extremities  of  the  transversal 
joists  and  the  spaces  which  separate  them,  have  given 
birth  to  triglyphs  and  metopes,  the  attributes  of  the  Doric 
frieze ;  only  the  spaces  are  filled  up  and  the  metopes  are 
covered  with  votive  shields,  trophies,  and  bassi-rilievi. 
Above  the  frieze  projects  a  cornice  of  stern  and  simple 
outline,  which  sustains  the  pediment. 

The  Ionic  order,  applied  at  first  to  the  decoration  of 
tombs,  is  more  extended  than  the  former;  adds  to  its  columns 
a  base,  which  varies  in  dimensions ;  divides  its  architrave  into 
three  plat-bands ;  suppresses  the  triglyphs  and  metopes  of 
the  frieze,  and  enriches  the  cornice.  This  order  draws  its 
distinctive  character  from  the  form  of  its  pillar-capitals, 
which  are  truly  very  beautiful.  In  shape  the  capital  is 
oblong,  and  is  formed  by  a  sort  of  scroll,  which  curves 
outward,  and  falls  in  a  large  volute  at  both  extremities. 

Still  richer  is  the  Corinthian  capital,  which  belongs  to 
the  third  order  of  Grecian  architecture.  It  is  a  double 
corbel  of  the  leaves  ot  the  acanthus,  which  throw  out  eight 
small  and  eight  large  volutes,  intended  to  sustain  an  abacus, 
curved  at  its  angles  and  hollowed  out  on  its  sides.  The 
whole  order  is  in  keeping  with  the  capital.  The  base  oi 
the  column  is  higher  and  bolder;  the  architrave  is  orna- 
mented with  rows  of  beads  ;  the  frieze  is  flowing  and  richly 
carved ;  and  the  cornice  is  so  developed  as  to  combine  the 
three  orders,  for  the  purpose  of  increased  embellishment 


GREEK    ART.  45 

If  is  supposed  that  the  Corinthian  order,  much  later  than 
the  two  others,  was  invented  at  Corinth  by  the  architect 
Callimachus.  Few  examples  of  it  are  now  seen  in  Greece. 
Perhaps  the  Romans,  who  were  very  fond  of  it,  transported 
to  Rome  all  the  capitals  and  columns  which  they  could  find 
in  the  original  country. 

Having  premised  thus  much,  let  us  glance  at  Athens, 
the  city  of  Themistocles,  of  Cimon,  and  of  Pericles.  Full 
of  gratitude  towards  the  mother  of  arts  and  sciences,  the 
instructress  of  Rome  and  the  world,  the  ideal  country  of 
genius  and  mind,  let  us,  as  it  were,  seek  the  remains  of  her 
past  splendour  as  an  affectionate  son  searches  beneath  the 
wrinkles  of  his  mother's  face  for  that  youthful  beauty  and 
those  beloved  lineaments  which  are  the  first  to  impress 
themselves  upon  his  memory. 

A  little  investigation  enables  the  explorer  to  trace  the 
still  visible  foundations  of  the  long  rampart  built  by  The- 
mistocles to  connect  the  town  with  the  Piraeus.  Passing  under 
the  lofty  rampart,  and  under  the  black  rocks  which  serve  as 
the  base  of  the  Parthenon,  our  attention  is  first  directed  to 
the  Acropolis.  Neither  at  Corinth  nor  at  Eleusis  can  the  Pro- 
pylaeum  be  compared  with  the  magnificent  vestibule  of  this 
structure.  It  is  the  work  of  Menesicles  ;  it  was  raised  about 
457  B.C.,  and  cost  an  immense  sum  of  money.  In  spite  of 
the  barbarous  treatment  which  it  met  with  at  the  hands  of 
the  Turks,  the  original  structure  may  be  still  admired.  Six 
columns  sustain  the  pediments,  and  form  the  middle  of  the 
facade ;  five  doors  are  placed  in  the  spaces  between  the 
columns,  and  richly-sculptured  compartments  divide  the 
white  marble  ceiling. 

The  grand  flight  of  steps  of  the  long  Propylaeum  is  on 
the  right.  A  high  rampart  serves  as  the  basement  for 


46  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  little  temple  of  the  Wingless  Victory,  demolished  in  1687 
by  the  Turks,  in  order  to  give  place  to  a  battery,  and  after- 
wards built  up  again,  stone  by  stone,  by  two  German 
architects.  Athens  dedicated  it  to  her  divine  protectress, 
Athena,  or  Minerva.  The  friezes  represented  the  combats 
in  which  this  goddess  assured  victory  to  her  people,  and 
upon  the  balustrade  the  Victories,  her  winged  messengers, 
seemed  to  await  her  orders. 

The  whole  edifice  is  constructed  of  marble,  the  bases  of  the 
columns  being  composed  of  single  stones.  The  bassi-rilievi 
of  the  south  and  west  were  taken  away,  and  transported  to 
England  by  Lord  Elgin,  and  now  form  what  are  called  the 
Elgin  Marbles  in  the  British  Museum.  Small  and  ruined  as 
it  is,  this  temple,  with  the  interior  of  the  vestibule  of  the 
Propylaeum,  forms  one  of  the  most  ancient  examples  of  the 
Ionic  order.  It  is  attributed,  with  some  authority,  to  the 
era  of  Cimon,  the  predecessor  of  Pericles.  The  orator 
Lycurgus  afterwards  added  the  decoration  of  the  balustrade. 

These  interesting  relics,  which  have  initiated  us  into  the 
pure  beauty  of  the  Grecian  architecture,  appropriately  pre- 
pare us  for  an  examination  of  the  Parthenon,  which  travellers 
and  artists  have  unanimously  placed  at  the  summit  of 
architectural  art,  as  Ictinus  and  Phidias  placed  it  at  the 
summit  of  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  I "  The  appearance  of  the 
Parthenon,"  says  Lamartine,  "  testifies  more  loudly  than 
history  itself  to  the  greatness  of  this  people.  Pericles  will 
never  die  !  What  a  civilisation  was  that  which  found  a  great 
man  to  decree,  an  architect  to  conceive,  a  sculptor  to  adorn, 
statuaries  to  execute,  workmen  to  carve,  and  a  people  to  pay 
for  and  maintain  such  an  edifice  !  In  the  midst  of  the  ruins 
which  once  were  Athens,  and  which  the  cannon  of  the 
Greeks  and  Turks  have  pulverised  and  scattered  through- 


GREEK   ART.  47 

out  the  valley,  and  upon  the  two  hills  on  which  extends 
the  city  of  Minerva,  a  mountain  is  seen  towering  up  per- 
pendicularly on  all  sides.  Enormous  ramparts  surround  it; 
built  at  their  base  with  fragments  of  white  marble,  higher 
up  with  the  ddbris  of  friezes  and  antique  columns,  they 
terminate  in  some  parts  with  Venetian  battlements.  This 
mountain  seems  to  be  a  magnificent  pedestal  cut  by  the 
gods  themselves,  whereon  to  seat  their  altars."  Here  it 
was  that  the  Parthenon  towered — nay,  towers  still,  even  in 
its  ruins,  above  the  Pentelic  valleys,  the  plain  of  the  Piraeus, 
and  the  sea,  whe^e  shine  the  pediments  of  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  ^ginus.  / 

"  By  what  fatality,"  exclaims  Chateaubriand,  "  is  it  that 
these  masterpieces  of  antiquity,  which  the  moderns  travel 
so  far  and  undergo  so  many  fatigues  to  behold  and  admire, 
owe  partly  to  the  moderns  themselves  their  destruction? 
Down  to  the  year  1687  the  Parthenon  remained  entire.l  The 
Christians  converted  it  first  into  a  church,  and  the  Turks, 
jealous  of  the  Christians,  afterwards  converted  it  into  a 
mosque.  Then  came  the  Venetians,  in  the  highly  civilised 
seventeenth  century,  and  cannonaded  the  monuments  of 
Pericles.  They  shot  their  balls  upon  the  Propylaeum  and 
the  temple  of  Minerva ;  a  bomb  sunk  into  the  roof,  set 
fire  to  a  number  of  barrels  of  gunpowder  inside,  and  de- 
molished in  part  a  building  that  did  less  honour  to  the 
false  gods  of  the  Greeks  than  to  the  genius  of  man.  The 
town  being  taken,  Morosini,  with  the  design  of  embel- 
lishing Venice  with  the  spoils  of  Athens,  wished  to  take 
down  the  statues  of  the  pediment  of  the  Parthenon,  and 
broke  them.  A  modern  succeeded  in  achieving  (in  the 
interest  of  the  arts)  the  destruction  which  the  Venetians 
had  begun.  Lord  Elgin  lost  the  merits  of  his  commend- 


48  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

able  enterprises  in  ravaging  the  Parthenon.^  He  wished 
to  take  away  the  bassi-rilievi  of  the  frieze ;  in  order  to  do 
so,  he  employed  Turkish  workmen,  who  broke  the  archi- 
trave, threw  down  the  capitals,  and  smashed  the  cornice."" 

Numerous  descriptions  of  the  Parthenon,  by  writers  of 
antiquity  as  well  as  travellers  of  all  ages,  enable  us  to 
re-construct  it  for  the  mind's  eye  in  its  general  aspect,  and 
almost  in  all  its  details. 

The  ancient  sanctuary  of  Minerva  had  been  so  com- 
pletely annihilated  by  the  Persians  of  Xerxes,  that 
Themistocles  did  not  hesitate  to  employ  the  remains  in  the 
construction  of  ramparts.  Pericles  charged  Ictinus  and 
Callicrates,  under  the  direction  of  Phidias,  to  raise  a  new 
edifice  worthy  of  the  power  of  Athens,  and  of  her  goddess. 
The  architects  adopted  the  Doric  style,  on  account  of  its 
nobleness  and  simplicity;  but  they  reserved  the  privilege  to 
themselves  of  lightening  its  somewhat  squat  proportions, 
and  softening  its  rudeness  by  precise  and  finished  work. 
Inspired  with  the  idea  of  the  object  of  the  work — the  honour 
of  Minerva  herself — they  never  lost  sight  of  the  divine  virgin, 
whose  glorious  image  Phidias  fixed  in  marble,  as  she 
sprang  from  the  forehead  of  Jupiter — the  issue  of  supreme 
thought — an  ideal  in  which  strength  did  not  exclude  grace, 
In  every  part  of  the  architecture  the  highest  degree  of 
elegance  and  serenity  was  conspicuous.  Without  sacri- 
ficing any  of  the  traditional  merits  of  the  Doric  order, 
they  subordinated  them  to  the  idea  which  it  was  necessary 
to  embody.  Columns  of  greater  length  than  formerly 
supported  bolder  capitals  and  a  lighter  entablature ;  a  richer 
and  more  delicate  decoration  was  made  use  of  in  the  friezes, 
and  in  the  very  smallest  details  the  loftiest  and  most  purely 
Attic  spirit  breathed. 


GREEK    ART.  Jl 

The  temple,  234  feet  by  98  feet,  entirely  of  white  Pentelic 
marble,  was  surrounded  by  a  peristyle,  sustained  upon  forty-six 
columns,  eight  supporting  each  pediment.  The  columns, 
placed  without  pedestals  upon  three  steps,  measured  20 
feet  high,  and  nearly  6£  feet  in  diameter.  Forty-six  to 
forty-eight  colossal  figures,  about  13  feet  in  diameter,  admir- 
ably grouped,  formed  the  pediments,  and  were  relieved  in 
pure  white  upon  a  reddish  background.  Below,  between 
the  triglyphs,  painted  in  blue,  ran  upon  the  ninety-two 
metopes  of  the  exterior  frieze  those  famous  alti-rilievi,  the 
Centaurs  and  the  Lapithae,  Hercules  and  Theseus,  Perseus 
and  Bellerophon,  by  Phidias.  Amidst  the  gods  and  heroes 
a  place  was  reserved  for  men.  The  principal  episodes  of  the 
battle  of  Marathon,  won  by  the  Athenians  over  the  Persians, 
occupied  the  metopes  of  the  western  fa£ade.  Outside  the 
colonnade,  upon  the  exterior  wall  of  the  temple,  ran  a 
long  frieze,  embracing  subjects  treated  in  alto-rilievo, 
like  cameos,  and  having  a  marvellous  finish.  There  were 
religious  processions  coming  from  both  sides  at  once  to 
honour  the  figures  of  the  gods  upon  the  facade.  In  the 
sanctuary  was  a  colossal  Minerva,  46  feet  in  height, 
clothed  in  a  tunic  of  gold,  and  holding  a  spear  of  ivory  in 
her  hand. 

The  Acropolis  of  Athens  also  contains  the  united 
temples  of  the  Erechtheum  of  Minerva  Poliades — "  Great 
works  also,"  says  Lamartine,  "  but  drowned  in  the  shadow 
of  the  Parthenon."  Mention  may  here  be  made  of  a  small 
temple  united  to  the  Erechtheum,  which  presents  a  feature 
we  have  not  hitherto  noticed.  The  place  of  columns  is  in 
this  instance  supplied  by  statues.  Six  beautiful  caryatides 
(figure -pillars)  in  white  marble,  and  crowned  with  elegant 
capitals,  support  an  entablature,  lightened  by  having  no 

E    2 


5«  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

frieze.  A  heavy  superincumbent  weight  would  have  givei 
these  figures  a  painful  appearance  of  effort,  than  which 
there  is  nothing  more  foreign  to  Greek  art.  By  the  absence 
of  this,  however,  and  the  skill  of  the  designer,  their  ex- 
pression is  one  of  unequalled  serenity  blended  with  that 
dignity  and  geometric  arrangement  which  is  more 


The  Temple  of  Pandrosa. 

characteristic  of  architecture  than  of  statuary.  Their  arms 
are  cut  off  between  the  shoulder  and  the  elbow,  and  the 
straight  folds  of  their  garments,  especially  behind,  look  like 
the  flutings  of  columns.  Their  feet  rest  upon  a  pedestal 
equally  high  in  all  cases.  Modern  art  can  hardly  equal 
them  even  in  the  case  of  the  splendid  caryatides  of  the 
tribune  of  the  Louvre,  in  which  grace,  size,  and  charming 


GREEK    ART.  53 

ndivetk  are  substituted  for  and  supplement  the  astonishing 
nobleness  and  absolute  purity  of  the  feminine  figure- 
columns  that,  in  the  small  temple  of  Erechtheum,  guard 
the  celebrated  olive — the  tree:  and  present  of  Minerva. 
This  little  temple  was  dedicated  to  the  nymph  Pandrosa, 
one  of  the  daughters  of  Cecrops,  and  it  is  generally  called 
the  Pandroseium. 

Among  the  numerous  monuments,  the  traces,  or  at 
least  the  sites,  of  which  we  can  still  discover  upon  the 
soil  of  Athens,  there  are  few  so  entire  as  the  temple  of 
Theseus — the  most  beautiful,  after  the  Parthenon,  which 
Greece  has  raised  to  her  gods  or  her  heroes.  It  is  con- 
ceived in  the  same  spirit,  and  presents  a  similar  arrange- 
ment, to  that  great  masterpiece.  Combats  of  Centaurs 
and  Lapithae  decorate  the  frieze.  Its  harmonious  mass 
and  its  beautiful  columns  stand  out  clearly  relieved  against 
the  deep  sky  of  Attica,  crowning,  as  it  does,  an  isolated 
cliff,  wild  and  bristling  with  sharp  rocks.  Like  the  Pecile 
and  the  theatre  of  Bacchus,  it  is  a  work  of  Cimon. 

A  little  monument,  formerly  known  under  the  name  of 
the  Lantern  of  Demosthenes,  and  of  which  a  copy  occupies 
at  St.  Cloud  the  summit  of  a  tower  well  known  to  the 
Parisians,  deserves  attention  as  one  of  the  rare  specimens 
of  the  Corinthian  order  to  be  seen  in  Greece.  It  formed 
one  of  those  small  houses  which  were  used  to  contain  the 
tripods  received  by  the  victors  in  the  scenic  games — those 
same  tripods  which  were  on  high  occasions  employed  for 
the  decoration  of  one  of  the  thoroughfares  of  Athens, 
called  in  consequence  the  Street  of  the  Tripods.  Above 
a  rectangular  pedestal  rose  a  small  round  chamber,  closed 
by  six  marble  panels,  that  crowned  the  frieze  and  circular 
cornice,  and  of  which  the  joinings  were  concealed  by  six 


54  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

fluted  columns  partly  sunk  into  the  wall,  and  rising  to  the 
height  of  13  feet.  The  cupola,  delicately  carved  in  the 
upper  part,  where  it  imitated  a  roofing  of  laurel  leaves, 
supported  an  ornament  in  the  shape  of  a  pieca  of  flower- 
work,  full  of  caprice,  and  very  artistic  in  the  management 
of  the  foliage.  Here  it  was  that  the  tripod  was  kept 


a.    GRKEK    REMAINS    IN    ITALY  AND    ASIA. 

Piesl-um,  the  Poseidonia  of  the  Greeks,  owes  its  origin 
to  the  first  Dorian  immigrations  into  Italy.  This  celebrated 
structure  was  situated  a  short  distance  from  the  sea,  and 
from  the  river  Silarus.  Its  decline  dates  from  three 
centuries  before  our  era,  though  it  existed  still  under  the 
empire  previously  to  its  capture  by  the  Saracens,  who  in 
915  burned  it  before  abandoning  it  to  the  Italians.  In 
addition  to  three  famous  temples  of  which  it  was  com- 
posed, there  still  remains  a  fragment  of  the  ancient  wall, 
formed  of  enormous  blocks.  On  the  space  of  four  miles 
which  these  ruins  cover,  are  to  be  found  fragments  of 
columns,  of  cornices,  and  of  pools  of  water  where  now 
grow  only  coarse  reeds — sad  successors  of  the  roses  so 
much  extolled  by  the  ancient  poets.  In  the  low  plain, 
where  now  are  scattered  the  remains  of  this  great  temple, 
the  soldiers  of  Crassus  in  former  times  crushed  the  almost 
invincible  army  of  Spartacus.  Even  the  dead  have  not 
fertilised  this  marshy  tract  of  land.  There  is  no  appear- 
ance of  life  or  of  restless  animation  to  disturb  the  solemn 
impression  and  the  imposing  effect  of  these  old  and  solitary 
temples. 

The  smallest  of  the  three  temples  has  lost  every  trace  of 
interior  walls,  and  preserves  only  its  stout  Doric  columns 


GREEK    ART.  55 

and  two  pediments.  Nine  columns  rear  themselves  in 
its  front,  and  thirteen  at  the  side,  which  show  to  great 
advantage  when  gilded  by  the  sun  of  the  South.  Above 
the  entablature  rests  a  irieze  with  modules.  There  are 
still  three  columns  standing  in  the  inside,  and  broken 
shafts  and  debris  encumber  the  enclosure. 

Of  the  three  temples  of  Paestum,  the  best  preserved 
ranks  among  the  most  beautiful  works  of  antiquity,  and 
is  situated  between  the  two  others.  Neptune  was  the  god 
to  whom  it  was  dedicated.  Its  fluted  columns,  of  which 
there  are  six  on  the  facade  and  fourteen  on  the  sides,  rest 
upon  three  broad  steps  of  most  harmonious  proportions. 
They  are  short,  their  height  not  being  more  than  14 
feet.  Their  diameter  gradually  diminishes  towards  the  top, 
and  thus  they  present  somewhat  of  the  appearance  of  a 
pyramid.  Between  the  columns  the  space  is  little  more 
than  the  diameter  of  the  pillars,  and  this  helps  to  make 
the  play  of  light  and  shade  among  them  very  striking 
and  varied.  The  capitals  spring  boldly  out,  and  the 
entablature  is  a  little  more  than  half  the  height  of  the 
columns.  Below  the  capitals  are  four  small  fillets,  fine 
and  light  ornaments,  which  are  placed  opposite  each 
other,  and  give  great  delicacy  to  the  ornamentation. 
Judging  from  what  remains,  a  pretty  correct  estimate  can 
even  at  the  present  day  be  formed  of  the  arrangement  of 
the  sanctuary  of  the  temple.  It  was  ornamented  with 
pilasters,  and  with  two  ranks  of  columns  which  supported 
an  architrave  on  another  range  of  columns  of  smaller 
size,  destined  to  support  the  roof.  Scarcely  another 
example  exists  of  this  superposition  of  orders  among  the 
Greeks. 

Sicily  was  at  an   early  date  colonised  by  the  Dorians, 


56  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

whose  dialect  it  preserved.  Notwithstanding  the  successive 
conquests  which  devastated  it,  it  still  contains  architectural 
lemains  which  are  well  worthy  of  the  mother  country,  the 
most  complete  of  which  is  the  temple  of  Segesta. 

The  town  of  Egesta,  or  Segesta,  the  foundation  of  which  is 
attributed  to  the  fabulous  Acestes,  the  companion  of  ./Eneas, 
was  destroyed  by  the  Saracens  in  the  eleventh  century.  A 
temple,  a  theatre,  and  some  shapeless  debris  situated  at  a 
shoit  distance  from  Calatafimi,  are  all  that  now  remain  of  it. 
Majestically  based  upon  a  promontory,  as  upon  a  great 
pedestal,  the  temple  seems  to  have  always  been  isolated  from 
the  town,  which  circumstance  was,  probably,  the  cause  of  its 
beiijg  preserved  from  the  fury  of  the  destroyers  of  the  latter. 
Antiquarians  do  not  agree  as  to  whether  it  was  consecrated 
to  Ceres  or  to  Diana.  It  has  the  form  of  a  square,  and  is 
sunounded  by  thirty-six  columns,  its  circumference  being 
more  than  500  feet.  All  the  attributes  of  the  Doric  order 
are  to  be  found  in  it.  Columns  without  bases  swelled  out 
at  the  bottom,  round  capitals,  an  architrave,  a  frieze  and  a 
cornice,  with  triglyphs  and  metopes,  a  double  pediment, 
and  four  steps  at  the  spaces  where  the  doors  afforded  entrance 
— such  are  the  main  features  of  the  temple  of  Segesta. 
The  columns  are  in  calcareous  tufa,  and  were  doubtless 
originally  coated  with  stucco.  Indentations  upon  some  of 
the  stones,  which  were  doubtless  made  in  order  to  facilitate 
the  transportation  of  the  great  blocks,  seem  to  indicate 
that  this  temple  was  never  finished.  No  traces  are  to  be 
found  of  an  altar,  of  steps,  or  of  interior  porticoes.  It  is 
believed  that  the  building  was  interrupted  when  Agathocles 
devastated  the  town  during  the  Punic  war.  The  preserva- 
tion of  the  edifice  itself,  so  far  as  it  was  completed,  is  as 
perfect  as  possible.  Its  interior  is  completely  unfurnished, 


GREEK   ART.  59 

except  with  grass,  upon  which  flocks  browse  in  the  shadows 
of  the  columns.  No  roof  covers  it  but  the  vault  of  heaven. 
This  solitary  colossus  towering  over  the  mountains,  with  its 
reddish  columns  eaten  away  by  time — an  abandoned  ruin 
rising  in  the  midst  of  the  desert — calls  forth  the  admiration 
and  respect  of  him  who  is  fortunate  enough  to  behold  it. 

Asia  is  the  cradle  of  Greece.  The  Hellenic  race 
sojourned  for  a  long  time  in  Ionia ;  but  the  devastations  of 
the  Persians  and  the  Turks  have  scarcely  left  there  any 
memorials  of  their  ancient  architecture.  Some  columns  at 
Ephesus,  some  tombs — among  others  the  famous  Mausoleum 
— are  almost  all  that  can  be  traced. 

According  to  Pindarus,  the  first  temple  of  Ephesus  was 
built  by  the  Amazons  at  the  time  when  they  made  war  upon 
Theseus.  Strabo  attributes  it  to  the  architect  Ctesiphon  ; 
and  Pliny  informs  us  that  before  being  burnt  it  was  a  type 
of  architecture  as  much  admired  for  the  proportions  of  its 
columns  as  for  its  capitals.  After  Erostratus  burnt  it,  in 
356  B.C.,  says  Strabo,  the  gifts  brought  from  all  parts,  the 
donations  of  pious  women,  the  presents  of  the  colonies,  and 
the  valuable  articles  deposited  by  the  kings  in  the  ancient 
sanctuary,  enabled  the  people  to  rebuild  the  temple  on  a  still 
more  magnificent  scale.  All  Asia  joined  in  the  undertaking, 
and  the  structure  took  no  less  than  220  years  to  raise.  It 
was  placed  on  a  marshy  soil,  to  ensure  it  against  earthquakes; 
and  in  order  to  obtain  sufficiently  strong  foundations  for 
such  a  considerable  mass,  a  bed  of  ground  carbon  was  laid 
down,  and  a  bed  of  wool  above  that.  The  entire  temple 
was  425  feet  long  and  220  feet  wide.  As  many  as  127 
columns  were  raised  in  honour  of  as  many  kings,  which 
columns  were  60  feet  high.  Of  these  columns  thirty-six 
were  sculptured. 


60  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  marvel  in  connection  with  the 
whole  enterprise  was  the  raising  of  the  architraves.  The 
greatest  difficulty  was  experienced  with  the  frontispiece 
over  the  entrance  gate.  Such  was  the  weight  of  this 
enormous  mass  that  it  could  not  be  placed  upright.  The 
artist  was  on  the  point  of  committing  suicide ;  but  during 
the  night,  says  Pliny,  a  goddess  informed  him  that  she  had 
arranged  the  stone,  and  in  the  morning  he  found  that  the 
promise  had  been  redeemed.  Chirocrates  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  architect,  the  same  who  built  Alexandria. 
Works  from  the  chisel  of  Praxiteles  and  of  Trason  covered 
the  altar  and  walls.  As  for  the  wood-work,  it  was  simply 
wonderful — all  the  carpentry  being  in  cedar. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  A.D.  the  Persians  first,  and 
afterwards  the  Scythians,  pillaged  and  burnt  the  temple  of 
Ephesus.  What  of  destruction  was  left  unaccomplished  by 
these  was  completed  by  the  Goths  and  Mahomet  the  Great. 
The  temple  is  represented  upon  ancient  medals  bearing  the 
effigies  of  Diocletian  and  Maximin,  with  a  frontispiece  of 
two,  four,  six,  and  eight  columns  respectively — variations 
to  be  attributed  solely  to  the  caprice  of  the  engraver.  This 
temple  was  the  most  perfect  model  of  the  Ionic  order. 

Among  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the  World  might  with 
justice  be  ranked  the  Mausoleum,  or  tomb  of  the  Carian 
King  Mausole,  at  Ephesus,  raised  by  his  wife  Artemisia. 
South  and  north  its  walls,  according  to  the  elder  Pliny, 
measured  63  feet ;  but  the  two  others  were  not  so  large. 
The  entire  circumference  of  the  remains  is  411  feet,  and 
the  height  25  cubits.  Thirty-six  columns  formed  a  peri- 
style around  it.  It  was  erected  at  different  epochs — the 
north  side  was  built  by  Bryaxis,  the  east  by  Scopas,  the 
south  by  Timotheus,  and  the  west  by  Leocharis.  Queen 


GREEK   ART.  6 1 

Artemisia,  who  had  designed  the  monument  in  honour  ol 
her  spouse,  died  before  it  was  completed ;  but  the  artists, 
believing  that  it  would  redound  to  their  glory  and  to  the 
interests  of  art,  determined  to  finish  it  This  was  ac- 
cordingly done,  and  above  the  peristyle,  or  pteron,  a 
pyramid  was  raised  of  the  same  height  as  the  rest  of  the 
edifice,  composed  of  twenty-four  steps,  which  decreased  in 
size  as  they  ascended.  Upon  this  summit  is  a  quadriga, 
the  work  of  Pythis,  which  accessory  gave  to  the  structure 
a  height  of  more  than  150  feet. 

Other  Greek  tombs  at  Alinda,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  Sicily, 
in  the  isle  of  Santrim,  present  the  form  of  a  square  tower 
sustained  by  Ionic  and  Doric  columns.  These  monuments 
succeeded  the  tumuli  of  the  Pelasgians,  which  we  find  among 
the  Etruscans,  and  even  among  the  Romans. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

ANCIENT   ROME. — 1.    THE   ROMAN    FORUM. 

ROME  borrowed  her  chief  architectural  ideas  from  the 
Etruscans  and  the  Greeks;  but  what  she  thus  took  she 
reconstructed  in  accordance  with  her  own  spirit,  converting 
the  whole  into  realisations  of  grandeur  and  ostentation, 
in  response  to  the  wants  which  arose  from  her  conquests 
and  her  wealth.  Captivated  with  the  beauties  of  Grecian 
architecture,  she  quickly  abandoned  the  Tuscan  model 
she  was  following  for  the  primitive  Doric.  She  added 
even  to  the  graces  which  she  borrowed,  and  in  order  to 
enjoy  at  once  the  Ionic  and  the  Corinthian,  she  combined 
the  two  into  an  order  which  has  consequently  been  termed 
the  Composite.  In  the  external  appearance  and  the  deco- 
ration of  those  buildings  can  clearly  be  traced  an  imitation 
of  Greece,  and  often  the  workmanship  of  Greek  artists ;  but 
they  all  possess  at  the  same  time  that  special  individual  cha- 
racter which  at  a  glance  declares  that  the  structures  are 
Roman  in  their  essential  principles.  Roman  architecture 
may  be  described  as  an  original  transformation  of  Greek 
architecture.  Applying  it  to  much  larger  structures,  Rome 
introduced  the  superposition  of  orders  in  storeys,  substituting 
the  vault  and  the  arcade  for  the  ceiling  and  the  plat-band. 
She  employed  the  smallest  materials,  and  enlarged  the  inter- 
vals between  the  points  of  support.  The  temples  alone 
remain  tolerably  faithful  to  the  Greek  type.  The  trium- 
phal arches,  the  baths,  the  amphitheatres,  and  the  aqueducts 


ANCIENT   ROME.  63 

widely  differ  in  their  structure  from  the  Greek  model :  these 
are  all  purely  Roman  works. 

The  spectator  could  not  walk  ten  paces  in  the  ancient 
Forum  without  perceiving  that  he  was  not  in  Athens.  Situ- 
ated at  the  foot  of  the  Capitol,  it  formed  one  of  the  promi- 
nent objects  of  ancient  Rome.  Upon  a  height  which  cir- 
cumscribed the  view  rose  the  Tabularium,  or  palace  of 
Archives,  at  the  foot  of  the  fortress  of  Romulus  and  of  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus.  Regarded  at  the  present 
day,  a  number  of  protecting  divinities  are  seen  grouped  to- 
gether, whose  duty  it  was  supposed  to  be  to  watch  over  the 
fortunes  of  Rome.  The  Capitol — that  cradle  of  an  empire 
that  has  lasted  1,200  years — is  now  a  mere  common  hill 
garnished  with  mansions  devoid  of  grandeur.  Its  height  even 
has  been  diminished,  owing  to  the  masses  of  rubbish  that 
have  gradually  accumulated  around  the  sides,  and  it  was 
found  necessary  to  dig  up  and  remove  the  soil  in  order  to 
restore  to  the  half-buried  ruins  of  the  Forum  the  elegance  of 
their  proportions. 

The  arch  of  Septimus  Severus,  the  foot  of  which  was  for 
a  long  time  buried  underground,  rises  in  front  of  the  Capitol, 
near  the  Mamertine  prison,  where  so  many  of  the  vanquished 
died  after  having  marched  in  the  triumphal  procession  of 
their  conquerors.  It  was  raised  about  the  year  203  A.D.,  in 
honour  of  Septimus  Severus  and  his  two  sons,  Caracalla  and 
Geta.  A  number  of  Corinthian  columns  separate  the  three 
unequal  semicircles.  Above  the  middle  one  recline  two 
figures  of  Victory,  while  above  the  smaller  arches  are  bassi- 
rilievi,  representing  combats  between  the  Parthians,  the 
Arabs,  and  other  Eastern  nations.  Formerly  the  upper  plat- 
form supported  a  huge  chariot  in  bronze,  conducted  by 
Severus  and  his  two  sons  around  the  figures  of  Victory. 


64  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Arc  du  Carrousel  in  Paris  is  a  copy  of  this  triumphal 
arch. 

Leaving  the  arch  of  Septimus,  the  spectator  sees  on  the 
right  and  in  front  of  him  almost  an  entire  side  of  the  temple 
of  Fortune,  the  three  Corinthian  columns  of  Jupiter  Tonens, 
and  the  beautiful  remains  of  the  Grecostaxium,  where  foreign 
ambassadors  were  lodged.  In  the  same  direction,  towards 
the  left,  the  visitor  seeks  in  vain,  in  the  pediments  of  the 
church  of  St.  Adrian,  for  any  vestiges  of  the  Emilia  basilica 
constructed  towards  the  latter  years  of  the  republic,  and 
restored  by  Tiberius.  This  structure  enriched  St.  John  de 
Latran  with  a  gate  of  brass,  and  St.  Paul  with  numerous 
pillars  in  violet  marble.  It  is  gratifying,  however,  to  find 
that  the  high  facade  of  the  temple  of  Antoninus  and  Faus- 
tinus  has  been  spared — a  fagade  which  Goethe  always  re- 
garded with  great  admiration. 

The  edifices  which  enclosed  the  Forum  on  the  east  having 
fallen,  gives  an  uninterrupted  view  on  the  right  of  the  Palatine 
Hill,  where  Augustus  and  Nero  had  their  palaces  and  gar- 
dens. It  is  at  the  present  day  merely  a  huge  collection  of 
open  vaults,  buried  galleries,  and  halls  paved  with  mosaics. 
Close  at  hand  is  the  arch  of  Titus,  on  the  Via  Sacra.  It  was 
raised  at  the  end  of  the  first  century  to  commemorate  the 
taking  of  Jerusalem.  In  spite  of  its  limited  dimensions  and 
its  singular  appearance,  the  beauty  of  its  proportions  and 
sculptures  renders  it  a  true  model  of  the  class  of  architecture 
to  which  it  belongs.  It  has  lost  four  of  the  eight  composite 
columns  that  ornamented  its  fagades.  Two  admirable  bassi- 
ilievi  are  to  be  seen  on  it,  but  they  are  unfortunately  muti- 
lated. One  represents  Titus  on  a  chariot  conducted  by  a 
female  figure  of  Rome,  crowned  with  victory,  escorted  by 
a  multitude  of  soldiers,  senators,  and  people.  The  other 


ANCIENT   ROME.  65 

depicts  the  spoils  of  Jerusalem,  the  table  of  gold,  the  seven- 
branched  chandelier,  the  sacred  vases,  and  the  Jewish  pri- 
soners. On  the  frieze,  on  which  is  emblazoned  the  triumphal 
pomp,  is  the  river  Jordan  figuratively  represented  and  carried 
by  two  men.  Four  Victories  decorate  the  archivolt 

At  some  distance  on  the  left  may  still  be  admired  the 
enormous  ruins  of  a  basilica,  called  the  temple  of  Peace,  the 
astonishing  vaults  of  which  inspired  Michael  Angelo.  This 
edifice  originally  formed  an  oblong  more  than  325  feet  by 
212.  Prodigious  Corinthian  columns  sustained  a  long  nave 
and  two  aisles.  All  the  vaults  shone  with  mosaics  and  orna- 
ments in  bronze.  There  now  remain  only  the  bays  of  the 
left  aisle  and  the  commencement  of  the  great  vault.  The 
only  column  that  remained  intact  was  transported  to  one  of 
the  squares  of  Rome,  the  centre  of  which  it  now  decorates. 

Between  the  arch  of  Titus  and  the  Colosseum,  the  im- 
posing ellipse  of  which  looms  grandly  upon  the  spectator, 
only  the  shafts  of  overturned  columns  are  to  be  met  with. 
On  the  right,  at  the  bottom  of  a  lonely  avenue,  the  arch 
dedicated  to  Constantine  after  his  victory  over  Maxence 
opens  its  three  semicircles,  surrounded  by  eight  beautiful 
fluted  antique  pillars  of  the  Corinthian  order.  The  bassi- 
rilievi  of  the  lower  part,  executed  in  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine, attest  the  decline  of  that  art ;  but  others,  to  the 
number  of  twenty,  placed  higher  up,  are  specimens  of  the 
best  style,  though  these  properly  belonged  to  one  of  the 
arches  which  ornamented  Trajan's  Forum. 

Of  the  first  great  stone  amphitheatre,  constructed  about 
the  year  of  Rome  725,  upon  the  Campus  Martius,  by  Stati- 
lius  Taurus,  there  now  remains  not  a  single  trace.  Augustus 
declared  his  intention  of  constructing  another,  but  this  task 
was  left  to  be  accomplished  by  Vespasian,  who  made  his 


66  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Jewish  prisoners  work  for  him  gratuitously.  Titus  built  the 
Flavian  amphitheatre,  and  dedicated  it  about  the  year  80  A. D. 
Struck  with  its  immense  proportions,  the  people  called  it  the 
Colosseum.  At  the  inauguration  under  Titus,  5,000  wild 
beasts  were  put  to  death,  and  11,000  on  the  occasion  of  the 
games  which  celebrated  Trajan's  victory  over  the  Parthians. 
Probus  caused  a  little  forest  to  be  planted  in  the  arena,  in 
which  he  placed  a  thousand  ostriches  and  a  vast  number  of 
other  animals.  In  the  sixth  century  the  practice  of  cele- 
brating the  barbarous  games  for  which  the  building  was 
reared  was  disused.  A  fortress  in  the  middle  ages,  and 
afterwards  an  hospital,  the  Colosseum  finally  became  a  sort 
of  quarry,  from  which  the  Farnese  and  others  took  material 
to  build  their  palaces.  Leo  X.  put  an  end  to  these  depre- 
dations, and  consecrated  the  building  to  the  memory  of  the 
martyrs  that  had  been  devoured  within  it  by  wild  beasts. 
Walls  and  buttresses  of  support  were  latterly  employed  to 
arrest  the  decay  of  the  building,  and  these  accomplished 
the  object  in  a  large  measure  even  after  half  the  exterior  wall 
had  disappeared. 

The  exterior  of  the  Colosseum  presented  four  storeys 
superposed:  three  arcades,  with  piers  ornamented  with  Doric, 
Ionic,  and  Corinthian  columns ;  and  one  with  pilasters  orna- 
mented with  a  bold  cornice,  at  which  were  fixed  mats,  to  be 
stretched  across  for  the  protection  of  the  spectators  from 
the  sun.  Two  subterranean  storeys  contained  the  animals, 
which  were  brought  up  by  traps.  Altogether,  the  building 
covered  a  space  of  65,000  square  feet. 

The  oval  arena,  260  feet  long  by  150  in  width,  had  its 
two  entrances  situated  at  the  two  broad  extremities  of  the 
circus.  It  was  surrounded  by  gradually  ascending  steps, 
which  formed  seats  for  the  spectators.  On  the  first  rank 


ANCIENT   ROME.  69 

were  placed,  at  one  side  the  box  for  the  imperial  family,  and 
on  the  other  that  of  the  consuls.  Right  and  left  were  places 
reserved  for  ambassadors,  first  magistrates,  senators,  and 
other  great  dignitaries.  The  senators  and  equites  occupied 
stalls  of  white  marble,  these  "upper  ten"  being  separated 
from  the  plebeians  by  a  deeply  cut  division,  forming  a  kind 
of  fixed  gulf  between  them.  The  amphitheatre  terminated 
with  a  beautiful  portico  at  the  roof,  formed  of  eighty  marble 
columns.  The  Colosseum  accommodated  90,000  spectators. 

Night  is  the  time  when  one  should  contemplate  the  Colos- 
seum, when  a  beautiful,  clear  moonlight  plays  among  the 
hollow  vaults  and  on  the  broken  steps,  giving  to  what  it 
lights  up,  and  what  it  darkens  with  shadow,  proportions  more 
vast  and  shapes  even  stranger  than  their  own.  Then  it  is 
that  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  past  crowd  on  the  memory  of 
the  traveller. 

We  imagine  we  see,  says  Chateaubriand,  "the  people 
assembling  in  the  theatre  of  Vespasian ;  all  Rome  gathered 
to  drink  the  blood  of  the  martyrs ;  a  hundred  thousand 
spectators,  some  shaded  by  the  hems  of  their  robes,  others  by 
umbrellas,  crowding  the  seats ;  multitudes  vomited  forth,  as 
it  were,  by  the  porticoes,  descending  and  ascending  the  long 
stairs,  and  taking  their  places.  Railings  of  gold  ward  off  the 
senators'  box  from  the  attacks  of  the  ferocious  beasts.  In- 
genious machines  scatter  a  perfumed  spray  throughout  the 
vast  space,  cooling  the  air  and  making  it  pleasant  Three 
thousand  statues  in  bronze,  an  endless  multitude  of  pictures, 
columns  of  jasper  and  porphyry,  balustrades  of  crystal,  vases 
of  the  richest  workmanship,  dazzle  the  eye  and  lend  variety 
to  the  scene.  In  a  canal  surrounding  the  arena  swim  a 
hippopotamus  and  crocodiles.  Five  hundred  lions,  forty  ele- 
phants, and  tigers,  panthers,  and  bulls,  accustomed  to  the 


7O  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

slaughter  of  human  beings,  rage  and  roar  in  the  caverns  of 
the  amphitheatre ;  while  here  and  there  gladiators  not  less 
ferocious  wipe  their  blood-stained  arms." 

The  Baths  exhibit  the  life  of  the  Romans  even  more 
intimately  than  the  amphitheatres.  Of  these  there  were  at 
Rome  more  than  800,  which  were  frequented  from  mid-day 
till  evening.  Agrippa  was  the  first  who  opened  them  to  the 
people,  and  a  great  many  emperors,  wishing  to  eclipse  their 
predecessor  in  luxury  and  magnificence,  followed  his  ex- 
ample. We  can  still  see  the  ruins  of  the  baths  of  Titus ; 
those  of  Diocletian  furnished  to  Michael  Angelo  the  idea 
which  resulted  in  the  beautiful  church  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Angels ;  while  those  of  Caracalla  have  been  preserved  from 
being  put  to  other  uses  by  the  vast  quantity  of  rubbish 
accumulated  about  them. 

At  the  foot  of  Mount  Aventine,  in  a  deserted  region  of 
Rome,  in  the  midst  of  wild  vines,  are  vast  ruins  which  time 
has  covered  over  with  mosses.  Here  lizards  sun  themselves 
in  peace,  and  here  the  humble  guardian  of  the  ruins  has 
built  himself  a  squalid  hut,  in  which  the  huntsman  of  the 
Emperor  Caracalla  would  not  have  kept  his  dogs.  At 
certain  places  one  can  climb  from  stone  to  stone  over  green 
mounds,  which  were  originally  porticoes  and  colonnades. 
In  these  baths  the  bathers  had  i,6oo  marble  seats,  special 
and  common  halls,  and  hot  and  cold  baths  of  various 
degrees  of  temperature. 

One  of  these  baths  was  no  feet  in  diameter;  another 
measured  126  feet  by  78,  exclusive  of  the  niches  around  the 
sides  and  the  halls  at  each  extremity.  The  vaulted  roofs 
were  supported  upon  pillars  45  feet  high,  one  of  which  was 
carried  off  to  the  Trinity  Square  at  Florence,  where  it  stands 
surmounted  by  a  statue  in  red  porphyry. 


••HP 

[~T Ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla. 


Ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Caracalla,  from  a  photograph. 


ANCIENT   ROME.  73 

Taken  m  their  entirety,  the  aspect  of  the  baths  was  monu 
mental.  Upon  the  Appian  Way  rose  two  storeys  of  porticoes, 
and  behind  the  long  gallery  of  1,170  feet  formed  by  these, 
a  vast  platform,  at  the  height  of  the  first  storey,  supported 
the  building,  surrounded  with  plantations.  Within  were  all 
sorts  of  appliances  for  the  exercise  of  the  body  and  amuse- 
ment of  the  mind,  which  the  ancients  always  combined. 
Everything  had  its  special  purpose  and  character,  and  there 
was  such  an  infinite  variety  that  all  wants  and  tastes  might 
find  their  gratification. 

Looking  at  these  baths,  the  spectator  cannot  help  feeling 
that  the  impression  caused  by  the  Colosseum  itself  becomes 
weakened.  Nowhere  within  the  Eternal  City  do  we  trace 
more  distinctly  the  vast  accumulation  of  riches  among  a 
single  people. 

In  the  refinements  of  these  baths  may  be  read,  as  in 
a  book,  the  intense,  luxurious,  and  delicate  life  of  the 
Romans.  It  might  be  v/ell  to  recall  these  baths,  which  were 
at  once  public  baths,  restaurants,  gymnasiums,  promenades, 
libraries,  halls  of  declamation,  and  congresses,  before  we 
boast  of  our  own  civilisation  and  prosperity. 


II.    THE   PANTHEON,   &C. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Mount  Aventine,  near  tht 
Tiber,  lie  the  inhabited  quarters  of  Rome,  containing  curious 
ruins,  which  we  can  only  mention.  Here  is  the  small  temple 
of  Vesta,  a  charming  spiral  edifice,  formerly  open  on  all 
sides,  and  covered  with  a  white  dome  supported  by  twenty 
fluted  columns  of  white  marble ;  but  at  present  submerged 
;n  a  heap  of  bricks,  and  hidden  by  the  fallen  roof.  Here, 


74  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

also,  are  the  arches  of  the  four-fronted  Janus  ;  and  further 
off  the  opening  of  the  Cloaca  Maxima,  a  celebrated  sewer 
which  dates  from  the  time  of  the  Kings  of  Rome.  Still 
further  off  lies  the  beautiful  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis,  now 
converted  into  a  church  called  the  Egyptian  Mary. 

Holding  on  in  the  same  direction,  we  come  next  to  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  best  preserved  remains  of  ancient 
Rome — the  Pantheon  of  Agrippa,  The  site  of  this  build- 
ing is  ugly  and  dirty.  Its  approach  is  guarded  by  a  granite 
pillar,  formerly  an  obelisk  of  Serapis,  and  a  fountain,  the 
water  of  which  falls  back  into  a  basin  of  porphyry.  So  great 
is  the  accumulation  of  rubbish  about  the  ruins,  that  only  two 
out  of  the  five  steps  leading  up  to  the  edifice  are  now 
visible. 

I  Agrippa's  Pantheon  consists  of  two  very  distinct  por- 
tions— a  rectangular  portico  and  a  circular  body.  Even  in 
its  present  state  of  decay,  a  want  of  harmony  can  be  detected 
between  the  ornamented  fagade  and  the  high,  red,  bare  walls, 
which  have  lost  all  their  exterior  decoration.  This  is  ex- 
plained by  the  fact  that  the  portico  and  main  body  of  the 
building  are,  in  reality,  different  structures.  The  circular  part 
possesses  a  fagade  independent  of  that  of  the  portico  ;  and 
these  differ  from  each  other  in  style,  that  of  the  portico 
being  superior  to  that  of  the  Rotunda. 

Bestowing  a  few  minutes'  examination  upon  the  details, 
we  find  that  the  superb  peristyle  is  sustained  by  two 
ranges  of  eight  columns  42  feet  in  height,  irrespective  of 
bases  and  capitals,  the  whole  composed  of  white  marble. 
Each  column  is  hewn  out  of  a  single  block  of  Eastern 
marble ;  those  in  front  being  of  white  and  black  granite,  and 
the  others  of  red  granite.  There  are  very  small  spaces 
between  the  columns.  The  front  columns  sustain  a  noble 


ANCIENT   ROME.  77 

entablature,  but  the  mass  of  the  pediment  rests  upon  arches 
concealed  by  the  architraves.  Formerly,  the  bassi-rilievi  of 
the  pediment,  the  inscription,  and  the  great  gate  of  the 
temple  were  of  bronze.  All  this  metal,  however,  was 
removed  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  Pope  Urban  VIII., 
and  has  since  been  used  in  constructing  the  immense  canopy 
of  the  altar  of  St.  Peter's. 

The  great  gate  leading  into  the  temple  opens  between 
fluted  pedestals  wrought  in  bronze,  and  the  gate  itself  is 
covered  with  thick  plates  of  the  same  metal.)  Furthermore, 
we  note  that  the  threshold  is  of  African  marble,  and  the 
sides  and  architrave  of  white  marble.  The  interior  of  the 
temple  is  no  less  rich  than  majestic,  its  diameter  being 
more  than  13  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  the  wall  19  feet 
From  pavement  to  summit  the  height  is  the  same  as  the 
diameter.  Light  is  admitted  by  a  single  circular  open- 
ing, 29  feet  in  diameter,  in  the  middle  of  the  vaults. 
Access  to  the  cupola  is  obtained  by  a  flight  of  190  steps; 

Passing  to  the  interior,  we  find  that  the  circumference  of 
the  Rotunda  is  decorated  with  Corinthian  columns  of  rare 
marble,  to  which  pilasters  are  attached,  the  bases  and  the 
capitals  being  of  white  marble,  and  the  frieze  of  porphyry. 
Above  these  is  a  range  of  windows,  now  walled  up,  the 
entablature  of  which  supports  the  cupola.  Plates  of  silver 
and  bronzes  covered  the  ribs  of  the  vault  in  former  times; 
and  bronze  caryatides,  the  work  of  Diogenes  of  Athens, 
guarded  the  windows. 

|  In  the  year  27  B.C.,  on  the  occasion  of  the  victory  of 
Actium,  when  universal  peace  was  declared,  the  great  edifice 
was  dedicated  to  all  the  gods,  and  figures  of  these  in  gold, 
in  silver,  in  bronze,  and  in  precious  marbles  were  placed 
in  niches  within  it,  and  hence  the  name  Pantheon.  \ 


78  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

To  the  same  date  as  the  Pantheon  ought  to  be  assigned 
the  theatre  of  Marcellus,  the  remains  of  which  are  united 
to  a  particular  house.  It  was  a  vast  and  superb  edifice, 
more  than  325  feet  long,  and  could  contain  16,000  spec- 
tators. Augustus  dedicated  it  to  his  nephew,  the  poetic 
youth  commemorated  by  the  genius  of  Virgil.  Of  the  four 
semicircular  stages  which  constituted  the  wall,  traces  ol 
only  two  remain.  Every  one  admires  the  equilibrium  of 
its  Ionic  columns.  These  form  the  models  which  are  fol- 
lowed by  modern  architects  in  designing  structures  wherein 
the  orders  are  superposed. 

Among  the  monumental  forms  of  which  Rome  has 
furnished  us  the  type,  the  votive  columns  must  be  classed. 
There  were  two  of  these — the  Antonine,  dedicated  to  Marcus 
Aurelius ;  and  the  Trajan,  of  which  the  column  in  the  Place 
Vendome,  at  Paris,  is  a  bronze  reproduction.  The  Trajan 
column  had  the  immense  pile  of  rubbish  surrounding  il 
cleared  away  for  the  first  time  in  1540,  but  it  was  not  entirely 
»evealed  till  1813.  In  height  it  has  often  been  excelled,  but 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  anywhere  an  equal  harmony  of 
proportions.  Its  pedestal  is  admirable,  and  the  spiral  bassi- 
rilievi  which  twist  around  its  shaft  of  white  marble  have 
been  studied  with  advantage  by  Raphael.  For  the  pedestal, 
the  shaft,  the  capital,  and  the  statue  of  Trajan,  Apollo- 
dorus  of  Damas,  the  architect  of  Trajan's  Forum,  employed 
thirty-four  blocks  of  marble,  marvellously  fitted  together. 
Throughout  its  whole  length  the  column  is  pierced  by  a 
staircase  leading  to  the  summit.  What  forms  the  parti- 
cular beauty  of  Trajan's  column  is  the  unity  of  conception 
which  it  displays.  Everything  is  varied,  but  there  is  no 
incoherency.  Underneath,  in  the  earth,  was  the  golden  urn 
that  contained  the  ashes  of  Trajan;  and  upon  the  pedestal 


'1  nijan's  Column  at 


ANCIENT   ROME.  8 1 

garlands  of  oak,  symbolical  of  peace,  were  suspended.  Laurels 
gird  the  base  of  the  pedestal.  The  shaft  is  enriched  with 
a  kind  of  endless  scroll,  which  winds  round  its  circumference 
from  base  to  summit.  Here  may  be  beheld,  ascending  as  it 
were  from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  2,500  figures  of  soldiers 
and  prisoners,  with  an  endless  number  of  horses,  elephants, 
weapons,  and  war-material.  Standing  on  the  top,  the  con- 
queror, as  it  were,  looks  down  upon  this  triumphal  cavalcade 
marching  upwards  in  winding  file,  and  is  recompensed  for 
his  victory.  Above  the  tomb  is  the  trophy ;  above  the  trophy 
the  apotheosis  ;  and — rare  fortune  for  a  monument — nothing 
jars  upon  the  mind  of  the  spectator  in  gazing  at  this  great 
memorial ;  for  he  remembers  that  Trajan  deserved  all  the 
honours  that  were  paid  to  him. 

Only  accidentally,  as  in  the  case  of  Trajan's  column, 
were  these  votive  pillars  employed  as  tombs.  Among  the 
architectural  forms  which  the  Romans  preferred  for  the  pur- 
poses of  sepulture,  the  tumulus  and  the  tower  were  the  richest 
and  the  most  considerable.  Adrian's  Mole,  that  enormous 
mass  which  has  so  often  served  Rome  as  a  citadel  under  the 
name  of  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  is  simply  the  mausoleum 
of  Adrian.  "  I  have  but  little  pleasure,"  writes  Brosses,  "  in 
seeing  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo  fortified  with  its  five  bastions, 
when  I  remember  that  it  was  originally  but  a  monumental 
tower  of  three  storeys  surrounded  with  porticoes  and  statues." 
The  principal  portion  of  the  tomb  is  raised  in  a  solid  mass 
upon  a  square  basement,  ornamented  with  niches  and  Doric 
columns.  In  shape  it  was  circular,  and  its  two  porticoes, 
superposed  the  one  above  the  other,  inclining  inwards,  sup- 
ported a  dome  surmounted  by  a  hugh  pine-apple  in  bronze, 
now  to  be  seen  in  the  Vatican.  The  exterior  was  wrought 
in  white  marble.  The  circumference  of  the  square  measured 

a 


8a  MARVELS   OP"   ARCHITECTURE. 

1,170  feet,  and  that  of  the  first  portico  was  580  feet,  the 
total  height  being  nearly  300  feet.  After  the  Pyiamids  of 
Egypt  this  is  the  most  stupendous  sepulchre  that  ever  was 
constructed. 

Adrian's  Mole  formed  a  pendant  to  that  of  Augustus, 
of  which  the  ruins  are  still  seen  on  the  other  bank  of  the 
Tiber,  near  the  gate  of  Renette.  The  mole  or  tomb  of 
Augustus,  it  is  supposed,  was  destroyed  by  the  Norman 
Robert  Guiscard  about  the  eleventh  century.  Nothing  now 
remains  of  its  cupola  or  of  its  porticoes.  The  two  obelisks 
which  were  formerly  placed  before  its  entrance,  at  the  pre- 
sent day  decorate  the  apse  of  St.  Mary  Major  and  the 
square  of  Monte  Cavallo.  Within  the  arena  formed  by  its 
lofty  vault  graduated  seats  and  boxes  were  in  ancient  times 
constructed,  for  the  accommodation  of  spectators  to  witness 
bull-fights  and  other  spectacles  of  a  similar  character  which 
there  took  place. 

Richness  of  conception  and  decoration  was  the  distin- 
guishing trait  of  the  Roman  tombs,  and  this  is  explained 
by  the  purpose  they  were  intended  to  serve — the  decoration 
of  the  principal  streets  of  the  city.  The  tomb  of  Augustus 
was  in  former  times  the  centre  of  a  vast  necropolis. 

The  Appian  Way  passed  between  two  great  rows  of 
sepulchral  monuments,  of  which  the  most  famous  and  the 
best  preserved  is  that  of  Cecilia  Metella,  wife  of  the  triumvir 
Crassus.  This  latter  formed  a  vast  circular  mass,  the  dia- 
meter of  which  was  98  feet. 

Not  far  from  the  gate  of  St.  Paul  stood  the  monumental 
pyramid  of  Caius  Cestius,  an  obscure  contemporary  of 
Augustus.  It  was  130  feet  high,  98  feet  wide  at  the  base, 
and  entirely  faced  with  white  marble.  The  burial  vault, 
19  feet  by  13,  had  a  plain  circular  rocn,  and  was  d*~o 


ANCIENT   ROME.  83 

rated  with  a  number  of  pictures  executed  upon  very  hard 
stucco. 

In  all  these  constructions — arches,  temples,  amphitheatres, 
baths,  columns,  and  tombs — whatever  was  not  positively 
enormous  in  size  was  at  least  solid  and  strong.  It  was  the 
custom  of  the  Romans  to  combine  beauty  with  strength, 
but  beauty  was  for  them  none  the  less  an  object  of  iHeir 
efforts  because  they  considered  it  should  be  combined  \vth 
utility.  They  may  be  said  to  have  chosen  by  instinct  out- 
lines, Curves,  and  elevations  that  pleased  the  eye— a  custom 
from  which  modern  architects  might  learn  a  useful  lesson. 
The  twenty-two  aqueducts  which,  down  to  the  time  of 
Procopius,  broi g:t  supplies  of  the  purest  and  most  whole- 
some waters  to  Rome,  were  not  only  admirable  for  the  per- 
fection of  their  interior  arrangement,  but  they  also  served 
as  a  decoration  to  the  country  through  which  they  passed. 
Nothing  could  be  more  noble  or  more  simple  than  their 
innumerable  files  of  arches  which  bore  water  to  the  Eternal 
City.  At  the  present  day  their  ruins  are  striking,  and  break 
the  dead  monotony  of  the  desert  plains,  where  rattle  the 
many-coloured  wings  of  the  grasshoppers,  and  little  is  to  be 
seen  but  parched  herbage.  Looking  upon  the  remains  of  the 
Anio  Novus,  the  traveller  can  easily  imagine  what  it  was  in 
ancient  times.  It  was  the  most  important  of  all  the  aque- 
ducts, was  nearly  60  miles  long,  and  in  some  places  the 
height  of  its  arcades  was  130  feet.  Constructed  under 
Caligula  and  Claudius,  about  30  B.C.,  it  carried  to  Rome  the 
waters  of  the  river  Anio,  which  at  present  is  known  by  the 
title  of  the  Teverone,  and  forms  the  cascades  of  Tivoli  at 
the  foot  of  the  circular  temple  of  the  Sibyl  Albuiiea. 

Whilst  Rome  drew  toward  herself  all  the  wealth  and  the 
active  forces  of  the  countries  she  conquered,  making  use  first 


84  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTUKE. 

of  Italy,  then  of  Greece  and  the  East,  and  eventually  of  Spam 
and  France,  she  gave  an  equivalent  wherever  she  carried  her 
eagles,  and  spread  all  around  her  genius  and  her  arts. 
Edifices  of  every  kind  were  reared  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber,  the  prevailing  ideas  of  which  were  borrowed  from 
other  nations ;  while  foreign  countries,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  embellished  with  the  products  of  the  Roman  genius. 

Italy  was  covered  with  aqueducts,  and  the  highways  were 
lined  and  ornamented  with  tombs.  Towers  and  temples 
covered  the  land.  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  preserved 
and  sealed  up  as  it  were  in  lava,  still  show  us  how  great  were 
the  luxury  and  the  good  taste  prevailing  even  in  the  smaller 
cities.  Following  the  example  thus  set  by  Rome,  almost 
every  town  in  the  ancient  world  came  in  time  to  have  its 
arena,  its  triumphal  arch,  its  columns,  and  its  baths.  Rome 
multiplied  herself,  yet  remained  ever  unique.  She  has  left 
recognisable  imprints  of  her  presence  in  Syria,  Egypt,  India, 
Africa,  France,  and  Spain.  From  the  second  century  every- 
thing became  Roman  in  its  characteristics,  and  ages  have 
not  sufficed  to  suppress  the  habit  which  became  a  second 
nature* 


CHAPTER  VIL 

THE    ROMAN   WORLD. — I.   THE   WEST 

FRANCE,  which  was  under  the  domination  of  Rome  foi 
more  than  500  years,  still  preserves  some  antique  temules 
reared  under  the  influence  of  the  Romans.  That  of  Ver- 
negues,  some  miles  from  Aix,  recalls  by  its  pointed' leaves 
and  Corinthian  capitals  the  early  times  of  the  conquest. 
Vienne,  in  Dauphine,  also  possesses  a  temple  which  con- 
tains at  the  present  day  a  rich  collection  of  antiquities. 
The  circumference  is  still  entire,  but  the  edifice  is  dis- 
figured by  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  restore  it. 
Undoubtedly  the  best  preserved  and  most  important  of 
these  ancient  structures  which  have  escaped  the  devastations 
of  barbarians,  and  the  hostile  zeal  of  early  Christians,  is  situ- 
ated at  Nimes.  It  is  called  the  Maison-Carree,  or  Square 
House — owing,  doubtless,  to  its  rectangular  form.  At  the 
present  day  its  interior  is  used  as  a  museum.  Fronting  it 
rises  a  portico,  placed  on  a  beautiful  basement ;  and  its  three 
other  sides  are  decorated  with  engaged  columns.  A  vast 
colonnade,  the  bases  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
fosse  facing  the  temple,  formed  at  one  time  a  forum.  This 
beautiful  edifice  was  attributed  to  Augustus  ;  but  the  exag- 
gerated richness  of  the  frieze  and  the  Corinthian  cornices, 
and  an  inscription  on  the  fa9ade,  fix  the  period  of  its  con- 
struction in  the  time  of  Antoninus. 

Even  before  the  conquest  of  Caesar,  Nimes  was  quite  a 
Roman  town.     An  inscription  attributes  to  Augustus  the 


86 


MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


building  of  the  walls.  The  line  of  walls  can  be  traced  for  a 
considerable  distance,  and,  judging  from  the  remains,  they 
must  have  been  about  29  feet  high,  and  from  6J  to  9  in 
thickness.  Like  the  gates,  the  town  and  upper  parts  were 
constructed  of  hewn  stone.  We  can  still  distinguish  the 


The  Square  House  of  Nimes. 

shape  of  the  two  gates,  which  were  named  the  gates  of 
France  and  of  Augustus. 

Traces  of  Roman  towers  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  citadel 
of  Carcassonne.  Larigres  and  Treves  also  have  preserved 
remains  of  ancient  walls  and  gates,  but  they  are  not  in  any 
way  comparable  to  the  gates  of  Arroux  and  of  St.  Andrei  at 
Autun. 


THE   ROMAN   WORLD.  87 

"When  we  see  the  remains  at  Autun,"  says  Me'rime'e, 
"and  recall  the  terrible  disasters  which  that  town  has 
suffered,  imagination  can  scarcely  picture  to  itself  what  it 
must  have  been  in  the  days  of  its  splendour.  At  the  end 
of  the  third  century  it  was  sacked  and  burnt,  and  its 


Roman  Gate  at  Trfcve*. 

temples  and  edifices  were  for  the  most  part  levelled.  Attila 
continued  the  work  of  devastation  when  he  made  himself 
master  of  it  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century.  Thereafter 
the  Huns  contributed  towards  the  destruction  of  the  remain- 
ing ruins,  and  finally  Rollo  and  his  Normans  found  some- 
thing still  to  destroy,  their  visit  being  the  last  and  most 
terrible  blow  which  was  given  to  the  unfortunate  town." 


88  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Like  those  of  Nimes,  but  higher  and  thicker,  the  walls 
formed  a  grand  line,  flanked  by  2 20  round  towers.  The  two 
gates  still  exist,  and  are  among  the  most  perfect  that  are 
known.  They  have  two  great  bays,  13  feet  high  and  6| 
wide.  They  are  of  hewn  stone,  laid  without  mortar,  and 
their  style,  strong  and  severe  in  its  outlines,  is  very  im- 
posing. 

In  spite  of  its  decay,  the  gate  of  Rheims,  built  in  the 
year  360,  is  very  interesting  on  account  of  some  bassi-rilievi, 
and  especially  for  its  unique  arrangement,  which  consists  of 
three  almost  equal  arches  resting  upon  the  same  moulding. 

Whilst  on  the  subject  of  gates,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
in  France  many  Roman  triumphal  arches  are  to  be  found, 
but  they  are  almost  all  in  a  state  of  decay.  One  only,  which 
is  very  simple  in  its  design,  and  is  pierced  with  two  equal 
semicircles,  like  the  gates  of  a  town,  belongs  to  the  Augustan 
age.  It  is  to  be  seen  at  Saintes,  on  the  banks  of  the  Cha- 
rente,  in  a  favourable  spot  to  which  it  has  been  recently 
transported,  stone  by  stone.  Formerly  it  stood  upon  the 
middle  of  the  bridge. 

The  most  celebrated  Roman  arch  in  France,  however,  is 
that  of  Orange.  No  traveller  omits  to  pay  it  a  visit,  and 
contemplate  its  three  circles  and  the  sculptures  which  orna- 
ment them.  It  has  been  skilfully  repaired,  fortunately  by 
architects  whose  object  was  to  strengthen  the  general  mass 
without  touching  its  details.  In  this,  as  in  other  cases,  man 
had  hurried  on  the  work  of  destruction  more  than  the 
elements.  One  cannot  but  specially  admire  the  composition 
of  the  maritime  trophies  depicted  upon  the  arch,  and  the 
beautiful  execution  of  their  details.  Some  antiquarians 
assign  the  erection  of  the  triumphal  arches  of  Provence, 
Orange,  St  Remy,  and  Carpentras,  all  to  the  same  date, 


THE   ROMAN   WORLD.  89 

and  the  same  purpose — namely,  to  celebrate  the  victories 
of  Marcus  Aurelius  in  Germany  and  on  the  Danube. 

At  Benevento,  in  Italy,  we  shall,  however,  find  the 
most  beautiful  arch  raised  by  the  Antonines.  Ancient 
tradition  gives  it  the  name  of  the  gate  of  gold.  It  resembles 
the  arch  of  Titus  in  its  unique  bay,  its  frieze  ornamented 
with  a  triumphal  procession,  and  its  bassi-rilievi  between 
the  columns.  Both  in  its  entirety  and  in  its  details  it  has 
escaped  barbarian  hands,  and  has  been  very  tenderly  dealt 
with  by  time.  It  is  constructed  wholly  of  Parian  marble, 
and  is  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  its  proportions  and  the 
richness  of  its  composite  style.  It  does  great  honour  to  the 
reign  of  Trajan,  whose  victories  it  celebrates,  and  to  its 
architect  Apollodorus  of  Damas,  the  architect  also  of  the 
famous  column  of  Trajan. 

Passing  from  the  triumphal  arches,  and  coming  next  to 
monumental  remains,  we  find  among  the  Roman  tombs  of 
Provence  two  of  an  original  form.  One  near  Vienne  bears, 
upon  a  basement  vaulted  and  pierced  by  four  arcades,  a 
pyramid  50  feet  high  ;  the  other,  at  St.  Remy,  is  raised 
upon  two  steps,  and  its  square  basement  is  ornamented 
with  three  beautiful  bassi-rilievi,  and  with  Ionic  pilasters. 
The  first  storey  rises  above  the  moulding  that  terminates  the 
basement ;  in  each  of  its  fronts  is  worked  a  richly-orna- 
mented arcade,  and  four  Corinthian  columns  are  engaged  in 
the  four  angles.  Muses  sport  upon  the  frieze;  the  crown  of 
the  tomb  is  formed  by  an  elegant  circular  colonnade,  covered 
by  a  cone  ornamented  with  imbricated  scales.  Within  the 
columns  two  statues  are  preserved. 

France  is  rich  in  amphitheatres,  and  can  show  remains 
nearly  equal  to  the  renowned  arenas  of  Verona  and  Pola. 

Rousseau,  in  the  last  century,  complained  of  the  neglected 


9° 


MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


state  in  which  the  arenas  of  Nimes  were  allowed  to  lie. 
"  This  vast  and  superb  circus,"  he  says,  "  is  surrounded  by 
contemptible  little  houses,  while  huts  still  smaller  and  more 
contemptible  fill  up  the  arena ;  so  that  a  disagreeable  and 
confused  scene  meets  the  eye,  instead  of  one  that  might 
awaken  pleasure  and  surprise."  Not  till  the  year  1810  was 


The  Arena  of  Nimes. 


an  act  passed  for  the  clearing  of  this  great  amphitheatre, 
and  now  there  is  no  obstruction  to  the  view.  Situated  in 
the  middle  of  the  town,  and  not  far  from  the  ancient  wall, 
the  arenas  of  Nimes  have  long  been  famous  for  their  size 
and  preservation.  Their  extent  is  420  feet  by  330.  They 
are  supposed  to  be  contemporaneous  with  the  Colosseum  j 
and  they  could,  like  it,  be  transformed  into  a  place  large 


THE   ROMAN   WORLD.  91 

enough  for  a  naval  battle  by  the  flooding  of  the  canals 
surrounding  the  arena,  but  which  were  generally  covered 
over.  Two  rows  of  porticoes,  with  arcades,  form  the  exterior 
decoration  of  the  amphitheatre,  and  are  in  a  style  of  decora- 
tion at  once  compact  and  simple,  somewhat  akin  to  the 
Doric.  The  interior  presents  only  a  picturesque  mass  of 
ruins ;  but  the  principal  parts  may  even  yet  be  easily  dis- 
tinguished. Seats  to  the  number  of  thirty-five  were  divided 
into  four  classes,  each  department  of  which  was  supplied 
with  separate  exits  and  entrances.  A  judicious  distribu- 
tion of  the  galleries,  staircases,  and  doors  of  egress,  saved 
the  20,000  spectators  whom  it  could  accommodate  the 
inconvenience  and  struggle  which  the  architects  of  our 
modern  theatres  do  not  know  how  to  avoid. 

Large  as  was  the  circus  we  have  been  describing,  the 
amphitheatre  at  Aries  was  still  larger,  being,  in  fact,  the 
largest  in  France.  It  was  built  upon  lofty  and  very  solid 
vaults.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  imposing  than  the 
interior  of  this  edifice,  built  of  enormous  blocks,  cut  with 
true  Roman  precision.  The  two  stages  of  exterior  porticoes 
were  separated  by  a  cornice  at  the  parts  now  hardly  recog- 
nisable, which  rested  upon  the  engaged  columns  between 
each  arcade.  The  first  storey  was  in  the  robust  Doric,  and 
the  upper  was  Corinthian,  as  is  proved  by  one  column, 
which  is  the  only  one  that  retains  its  capital.  The  top  part 
of  the  building  has  long  ago  disappeared. 

M.  Merimee  has  drawn  a  parallel  between  tne  two  struc- 
tures, which  will  be  read  with  interest. 

He  says  : — "  At  Nimes  the  arena,  disencumbered  of  all 
obstructions,  occupies  the  centre  of  a  large  space,  where,  at  a 
single  glance,  we  can  take  in  the  whole  enclosure ;  while  at 
Aries  the  vicinity  of  the  houses  and  the  slope  of  the  land 


03  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE, 

permit  us  only  to  get  glimpses  and  snatches  of  the  ancient 
amphitheatre. 

"Although  the  exterior  porticoes  of  Nimes  greatly  re- 
semble those  at  Aries,  some  differences  are  observable  not  to 
the  advantage  of  the  former.  For  example,  the  centre  of 


The  Amphitheatre  of  Aries. 


the  interior  archivolts  of  the  second  storey  and  that  of  the 
exterior  archivolts  are  different,  an  irregularity  which  offends 
even  the  inexperienced  eye,  and  which  nothing  justifies.  At 
Nimes,  as  well  as  at  Aries,  the  galleries  of  the  first  stage 
are  formed  by  a  suite  of  vaults  enclosed  between  two 
bandeaux  of  a  single  stone  resting  upon  piers ;  but  in  the 
arena  of  Aries  the  eccentricity  of  this  construction  is  less 
apparent 


THE    ROMAN   WORLD.  93 

"  If  the  arena  of  Aries  is  better  preserved  in  the  interior, 
the  wall  of  that  of  Nimes  is  more  intact,  and  its  crown  has 
not  suffered  so  much  ;  it  still  preserves  the  greater  part  of 
the  corbels,  where  were  implanted  the  poles  used  to  support 
the  awnings  for  the  protection  of  the  spectators  from  the 
sun.  Taken  together,  these  two  amphitheatres  furnish 
almost  complete  details  of  the  construction  of  these  build- 
ings, the  purpose  of  which,  and  their  gigantic  proportions, 
argue  a  state  of  things  so  different  from  our  own." 

Leaving  the  amphitheatres,  we  turn  next  to  the  baths, 
and  here  again  we  find  distinct  traces  of  Rome  in  Western 
Europe.  The  best  known  are  those  of  Julian,  at  Paris,  the 
cold  bath  hall  of  which  alone  preserves  its  vaulted  roof  50 
feet  high,  which  has  for  many  ages  been  covered  with  a 
layer  of  earth  four  feet  thick,  capable  of  nourishing  great 
trees.  The  springings  of  this  greatly  admired  vault  repose 
on  the  prows  of  vessels  carved  in  stone ;  and  altogether  the 
remains  of  these  baths  are  considered  as  the  most  ancient 
of  the  city  of  Paris. 

At  Nimes  also  there  exist  important  remains  of  baths, 
which  contribute  to  the  ornamentation  of  a  charming  garden 
in  which  they  are  situated.  Specially  may  be  mentioned 
the  beautiful  cold  pool,  surrounded  by  a  low  colonnade, 
and  divided  into  chambers  by  partitions  of  stone.  Several 
conduits  of  water  meet  in  this  pool,  over  which  perhaps  a 
nymph  presided.  For  some  unknown  reason  the  place  has 
received  the  name  of  the  Temple  of  Diana. 

After  the  relaxations  of  the  bath  and  excitement  of  the 
arena,  the  attractions  of  the  theatre  formed  the  next  great 
amusement  of  the  Roman  world.  We  have  described  what 
remains  of  the  theatre  of  Marcellus ;  but,  in  this  respect, 
France  has  been  more  favoured  than  even  Italy  itsel£ 


94  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Orange  contains  an  admirable  theatre,  very  well  preserved ; 
its  fa£ade  is  seen  from  a  great  distance,  and  towers  over  all 
the  modern  buildings,  its  wall  being  330  feet  long  and  no 
feet  high.  The  nearer  one  approaches  this  wall  the  more 
prodigious  it  seems  to  become,  and  the  more  one  is 
astonished  that  so  simple  a  wall  should  produce  so  powerful 
an  impression.  Three  gates  or  doors  symmetrically  arranged, 
a  range  of  false  arcades,  two  lines  of  corbels,  and  a  bold 
cornice,  are  all  that  break  up  the  monotony  of  this  great 
wall.  Beyond  the  wall  the  building  is  a  chaos.  Where  in 
former  times  stood  the  stage,  the  retiring-rooms,  and  the 
machinery,  are  now  to  be  seen  merely  remains  of  founda- 
tions, of  basements,  vestiges  of  corridors,  and  the  debris 
of  staircases.  Three  superposed  colonnades  of  granite  and 
white  marble  which  decorated  the  interior  facade  have  been 
destroyed  or  removed.  Traces  of  a  violent  fire  are  dis- 
coverable, which  has  reddened  the  stones,  calcined  the 
marble,  and  left  great  heaps  of  ashes  upon  the  soil.  The 
stone  seats  curve  round  on  a  hill,  partly  artificial  and 
partly  natural ;  they  are  numerous  and  high,  but  even 
when  one  has  ascended  to  the  topmost  step  the  huge  wall 
of  the  facade  seems  to  tower  as  high  as  ever.  For  a 
long  time  encumbered  with  mean  structures,  the  theatre 
of  Orange  is  now  cleared;  but  between  the  proscenium 
and  the  seats  grows  a  little  grove  of  fig-trees,  which  adds 
to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  colossal  ruins. 

Aqueducts,  again,  such  as  those  which  covered  the 
Roman  Campagna,  and  surround  the  greater  number  of  the 
cities  of  Italy,  are  not  wanting  in  France.  Traces  of  them 
are  to  be  seen  at  Fr6jus,  Luynes,  Saintes,  Jouy,  Arcueil ; 
while  of  those  at  Lyons  have  been  left  important  remains. 
Near  the  village  Oullin*  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhone,  at 


THE   ROMAN   WORLD.  95 

the  bottom  of  the  valley  of  Bonnant,  extend  these  picturesque 
ruins.  Here  the  entire  arches  and  pillars  are  covered  with 
ivy;  at  other  places  may  be  seen,  still  adhering  to  the 
Roman  brick,  the  dried  branches  of  other  ivies  long  dead, 
and  perhaps  in  their  day  contemporaneous  with  the  great 
work  itself.  Those  parts  that  are  naked  display  marks 
of  extremely  beautiful  construction.  Portions  of  the  aque- 
duct are  built  of  white  and  black  stones  on  the  draught- 
board pattern,  with  courses  and  arches  in  red  bricks 

Ascending  towards  the  vicinity  of  the  village  of  Chaponost, 
we  notice  still  more  considerable  remains  of  the  aqueduct 
that  conveyed  the  waters  from  Mount  Pilat  to  the  ancient 
Lugdunum,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  These  waters 
were  collected  in  admirable  reservoirs,  and  distributed  by 
means  of  a  system  of  ingenious  syphons,  of  which  the  one 
under  notice  is  the  only  example  to  be  found. 

The  famous  Pont  du  Card  served  the  double  purpose  of 
a  bridge  and  an  aqueduct.  It  crossed  the  river  Garden 
between  two  mountains  some  leagues  from  Nimes.  Three 
ranges  of  arcades,  superposed,  decreasing  in  size  from  the, 
lowest  range,  and  constructed  of  hewn  stone  laid  without 
mortar  or  cement,  constituted  this  marvellous  work.  No 
other  ornaments,  save  great  embossments,  adorn  these  huge 
piles  formed  by  enormous  heavy  blocks.  Rain  has  not  been 
able  to  penetrate  the  seams  of  this  uncemented  structure, 
nor  has  time  been  able  to  dislocate  its  joints.  And  yet  the 
architect  provided  for  such  a  contingency,  for  he  erected 
certain  piers  which  were  intended  to  sustain  scaffolding  for 
the  purpose  of  making  whatever  repairs  might  in  time  be 
necessary.  "  Such  confidence,"  says  Morimee,  "  had  they  in 
the  stability  of  their  empire,  that  they  provided  for  the  day 
K-hen  repairs  might  be  necessary  for  the  Pont  du  Card  I  * 


96 


MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 


The  canal  of  this  viaduct  was  between  5  and  7  feet 
wide.  It  was  entirely  covered  with  thick  flag-stones, 
coated  with  a  species  of  stucco  cement  to  prevent  evapora- 
tion. It  was  paved  with  impermeable  mortar,  and  stretched 
along  the  summit  of  the  topmost  range  of  arcades,  160  feet 
above  the  earth.  The  Pont  du  Card  is  in  the  style  of  the 


The  Pont  du  Card. 


best  Roman  epoch.  It  is  attributed  to  Agrippa,  who  came 
to  Nimes  in  19  A.D.,  and  who  had  the  superintendence  of 
the  waters  at  Rome.  No  Roman  monument  is  more  admired. 
Rousseau  says  of  it: — "After  partaking  of  an  excellent 
breakfast  of  figs,  I  took  a  guide  and  went  to  see  the  Pont 
du  Card.  It  was  the  first  Roman  work  I  had  ever  gone  to 
see,  and  I  did  not  expect  to  behold  a  monument  worthy  of 
the  hands  that  constructed  it  When  I  reached  it,  however, 


THE   ROMAN    WORLDk  97 

I  found  that  the  object  itself  surpassed  my  expectations. 
This  noble  and  simple  work  struck  me  all  the  more  because 
it  lay  in  the  middle  of  a  desert,  where  silence  and  solitude 
added  to  the  general  effect.  I  could  not  help  asking  myself 
what  force  it  was  that  transplanted  these  enormous  stones 
from  their  quarry,  and  assembled  together  thousands  of 
workmen  in  an  uninhabited  region.  I  traversed  the  three 
storeys  of  arcades,  of  which  the  aqueduct  is  composed,  and 
the  echoing  of  my  feet  on  these  immense  vaults  made  me 
believe  I  heard  the  strong  voice  of  those  who  built  it.  I  was 
lost  like  an  insect  in  its  immensity.  And  yet,  though 
feeling  myself  altogether  insignificant  in  body,  something 
elevated  my  soul,  and  with  a  sigh  I  exclaimed,  *  Would  that  I 
had  been  born  a  Roman  I"1 

The  bridge  of  Segovia,  in  Spain,  deserves  to  be  mentioned 
after  the  Pont  du  Card,  although  it  is  not  its  equal  in 
majesty,  having  only  two  ranges  of  arcades.  Its  great  grey 
blocks  touched  with  black,  and  laid  without  cement  so  closely 
that  not  a  weed  has  been  able  to  strike  its  roots  into  their 
crevices,  increase  the  grandiose  appearance  of  the  structure 
by  their  severe  colour.  It  has  been  attributed  both  to  Ves- 
pasian (69  A.D.) 'and  to  Adrian  (117  A.D.).  Isabella,  the 
Catholic,  removed  thirty-five  of  its  arches,  but  the  aqueduct 
is  still  in  use,  and  carries  the  waters  of  a  little  river  called 
Rio  Frio. 

The  bridge  of  Alcantara,  over  the  Tagus,  is  not  an 
aqueduct,  but  simply  a  bridge  609  feet  long,  26  feet  wide, 
and  200  feet  high,  It  is  the  work  of  Trajan,  the  first 
emperor  of  Spain  (98  A.  D.),  and  formed  six  arches  of 
different  heights,  entirely  constructed  of  granite  without 
cement.  One  of  the  small  arches,  demolished  by  the 
Saracens  in  1213,  was  removed  by  Charles  V.  in  1513.  Set 

H 


98  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

up  again  in  wood,  it  was  burnt  in  1836,  and  has  not  been 
rebuilt  The  traveller  has  consequently  to  cross  the  Tagus 
in  a  ferry,  at  the  place  where  it  would  be  easy  to  repair  a 
bridge  which  would  last  for  centuries  to  come. 

Another  town  called  Alcantara,  situated  in  Africa,  to  the 
south  of  Constantine,  has  a  bridge  of  a  single  arch  thrown 
over  a  narrow  and  deep  ravine,  washed  by  a  torrent.  This 
site  was  probably  chosen  for  its  picturesqueness.  From  the 
bridge  the  view  extends  over  a  beautiful  oasis  in  which 
75,000  palms  flourish. 

All  the  north  of  Africa  was  as  thoroughly  Roman  as 
France  or  Spain.  Hippona,  Carthage,  and  Alexandria  were, 
under  the  empire,  intellectual  centres  like  Lyons  or  Cordova. 
Reflecting  upon  this  great  civilisation,  which  the  years  have 
trampled  under  foot  and  annihilated,  we  are  forced  to  avow 
that  all  is  not  progress  in  the  history  of  humanity. 


*.    PALMYRA   AND    BALBEK. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  architecture  of  Western  Europe 
differed  little  in  many  respects  from  that  of  Rome.  In  Gaul 
the  imported  architecture  of  Italy  had  not  to  contend  against 
a  national  style  of  art,  for  the  skill  of  the  Celts  was  limited  to 
the  construction  of  round  houses  in  the  earth,  and  their  gods 
had  only  dedicated  to  them  dolmens  and  covered  ways. 

But  it  was  quite  otherwise  in  Africa  and  Asia.  In  these 
continents,  it  is  true,  Rome  succeeded  Greece,  but  the  Greek 
influence  was  of  too  short  duration  to  efface  the  marks  of 
former  dominations.  Egypt,  Assyria,  Lydia,  Phrygia,  Cappa- 
docia,  resisted  Greece  and  Rome  more  by  their  persistent 
nationality  than  by  their  arms.  The  Ptolemies  and  the 


THE    ROMAN    WORLD.  99 

Antonines,  men  who  repaired  and  constructed  much  in 
Egypt,  adopted  the  traditional  forms  of  the  pilones  and  the 
hypogees,  and  nothing  at  first  sight  more  resembles  the  palace 
of  Sesostris  than  the  colonnades  of  Philae  or  the  ruins  of 
Antinoe,  the  town  of  Adrian.  The  Egyptian  style  was 
changed  only  to  be  degraded. 

Asia  Minor,  on  account  of  the  affinity  of  its  peoples  and 
its  proximity  to  Europe,  was  more  docile,  and  took  more 
kindly  to  the  classic  style.  The  temple  of  Ancyra,  on  the 
walls  of  which  is  inscribed  the  will  of  Augustus,  is  a  building 
that  would  not  be  out  of  place  in  Italy.  But  the  most 
famous  examples  of  classic  architecture  in  the  East  are  pre- 
sented by  the  ruins  of  Palmyra  and  Bulbek.  Although 
remains  of  more  ancient  eras  may  be  noticed  in  these 
places,  yet  the  general  character  of  the  ruins  is  Graeco- 
Roman. 

Strabo  does  not  mention  Palmyra ;  but  Pliny  describes 
it  thus  : — "  Palmyra  is  remarkable  because  of  its  situation, 
its  rich  territories,  and  its  agreeable  streams.  On  all  sides 
a  waste  desert  separates  it  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  it 
has  preserved  its  independence  between  the  great  empires 
of  Rome  and  Parthia."  But  in  the  year  270  A. D.,  its  queen, 
Zenobia,  made  war  upon  Aurelian,  and  the  massacre  of  a 
Roman  garrison  brought  about  the  destruction  of  the  town. 
Aurelian  rebuilt  it,  however,  and  restored  the  Temple  of  the 
Sun,  which  was  one  of  its  ornaments,  and  after  him  Diocle- 
tian and  Justinian  further  embellished  it 

The  ruins  of  Palmyra  or  Tadmor  were  situated  at  an 
equal  distance  between  the  Orontes  and  the  Euphrates. 
Behind  an  aqueduct  and  some  high  tombs,  a  pile  of  upright 
columns,  the  bases  of  which  are  higher  than  a  man,  stretches 
over  a  space  of  more  than  a  mile  and  a  half.  In  some  places 

H    2 


100  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  fall  of  many  of  the  columns  has  spoiled  the  symmetry 
of  the  porticoes,  the  palace,  and  the  temples.  In  others  the 
columns  retreat  away  from  the  eye,  in  lines,  like  avenues 
of  leafless  trees.  Overturned  shafts,  broken  capitals,  great 
blocks  of  stone  lying  higgledy-piggledy,  friezes  broken,  entab- 
latures, violated  tombs,  and  altars  overturned  in  the  dust,  are 
what  we  see  on  and  around  the. site  of  Palmyra.  "  Archi- 
tecture,'* says  Volney,  "  was  prodigal  of  its  magnificence  in 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  Along  the  wall  of  the  square  ran  a 
double  range  of  Ionic  pillars ;  the  peristyle  was  formed  of 
forty  columns,  and  the  fagade  resembled  the  present  colon- 
nade of  the  Louvre.  The  only  difference  was  that  at  Pal- 
myra the  columns  were  isolated,  while  at  Paris  they  are 
grouped  in  couples.  Everywhere  was  to  be  seen  the  winged 
disc,  the  emblem  of  the  sun." 

"Balbek/'continuesVolney,  "celebrated  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  as  Heliopolis,  or  the  city  of  the  sun,  was  situated 
at  the  foot  of  the  anti-Lebanon  range,  exactly  at  the  last  undu- 
lation of  the  mountain  upon  the  plain.  Arriving  from  the 
south,  the  traveller  discovers  the  ruins  of  the  city,  at  the 
distance  of  a  league  and  a  half,  behind  a  fringe  of  trees, 
above  which  rise  the  white  domes  and  minarets.  After  an 
hour's  travelling,  we  arrived  at  the  trees,  and  found  that  they 
were  very  beautiful  walnuts  ;  and  after  traversing  ill-cultivated 
gardens,  by  tortuous  foot-paths,  we  found  ourselves  conducted 
to  the  town.  Arrived  there,  we  saw  a  ruined  wall  flanked 
by  square  towers.  This  wall,  which  is  only  ten  or  twelve 
feet  high,  allowed  us  to  peep  into  the  interior  of  the  cit) , 
which  we  found  consisted  of  desolate  tracts  encumbered 
with  rubbish,  which  seems  to  be  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
all  Turkish  towns." 

When  the  traveller  has  ascended  a  terrace  formed  of  enor- 


THE   ROMAN   WORLD.  IOI 

mous  blocks,  his  first  glance  naturally  falls  upon  six  magni- 
ficent columns  at  the  end  of  a  vast  court,  and  he  finds  himself 
in  front  of  the  peristyle  of  a  great  temple.  As  a  background 
we  have  the  mountains,  the  flanks  of  which  are  of  an  ashy- 
red  colour,  and  stand  out  clear  against  the  sky. 

These  magnificent  columns,  consisting  at  most  of  two  01 
three  blocks  so  perfectly  fitted  that  we  can  scarcely  distin- 
guish the  joinings,  are  more  than  7  feet  in  diameter  and 
over  70  feet  in  height.  Nothing  could  be  richer  than  theii 
capitals  and  their  sculptured  entablatures. 

On  the  left  of  these  pillars  is  to  be  seen  the  most  com- 
plete edifice  in  Balbek,  namely,  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Helio- 
politanus.  Its  columns,  also  of  the  Corinthian  order,  are 
almost  as  thick  as  those  just  noticed,  but  not  nearly  so  high, 
nor  are  they  comparable  to  the  others  for  beauty  of  propor- 
tions. Thirty-eight  of  them  still  remain,  and  the  colonnade 
is  entire,  with  the  exception  of  a  portion  belonging  to  the 
southern  facade.  Capitals  and  drums  have  tumbled,  and 
form  a  kind  of  stair  of  rough  stones,  by  means  of  which  we 
can  reach  the  plauorm.  One  column  has  slipped  without 
breaking  from  the  height  of  the  rampart,  and  remains  sup- 
ported against  the  wall  like  the  trunk  of  an  uprooted  tree. 
As  soon  as  we  arrive  at  the  portico  we  are  struck  with  the 
richness  of  the  ceiling.  Upon  the  compartments  that  com- 
pose it  are  designed  alternately  a  hexagon  and  four  lozenges, 
which  enclose  heads  thrown  out  in  bosses.  Some  blocks, 
covered  with  delicate  ornaments,  have  become  detached  from 
the  ceiling  and  fallen  to  the  earth. 

Speaking  of  Balbek,  Saulcy  says  : — "  A  high  terrace,  built 
of  prodigious  masses  of  stone,  raises  its  remains  above  the 
horizon.  The  largest  block  measures  65  feet  by  1 6  in  width 
and  thickness.  Hadger-el-Kiblah,  or  stone  of  the  south,  is 


lot  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE 

the  name  given  to  it  by  the  Arabs.  It  would  require  the 
force  of  20,000  horses  to  move  it,  or  the  concentrated  and 
simultaneous  effort  of  40,000  men  to  move  it  at  the  rate  of 
three  feet  in  ten  seconds.  Human  intelligence  is  staggered 
at  the  thought  of  how  such  stones  were  conveyed  into  the 
desert,  and  by  what  machinery  they  were  raised  so  as  to 
form  parts  of  gigantic  edifices.  But  even  greater  wonders 
than  these  remain  to  be  accounted  for.  We  find  that  masses 
as  large  have  been  transported  at  least  the  distance  of  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  ;  and  that  at  a  distance  of  eighteen  feet 
above  these,  other  masses  equally  enormous  are  jointed  with 
all  the  skilful  contrivance  displayed  by  the  best  workmen  in 
laying  stones  of  ordinary  size." 

Considering  the  extraordinary  magnificence  of  Balbek, 
it  is  certainly  astonishing  that  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers 
have  said  so  little  about  it  Wood,  in  his  "  Description  of 
London,"  published  in  the  year  1757,  states  that  mention  is 
made  of  it  by  John  of  Antioch,  who  attributed  the  construc- 
tion of  the  edifice  just  described  to  Antoninus  the  Pious. 
Inscriptions  which  still  remain  bear  witness  to  this  opinion ; 
but  the  inhabitants  prefer  to  regard  it  as  the  work  of  the 
genii  under  the  commands  of  Solomon. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LATIN   AND    BYZANTINE    STYLES. 

ABOUT  the  time  of  Constantine,  a  number  of  general  law 
were  imposed  upon  all  architects  throughout  the  whole  Ro- 
man world  But  after  the  capital  had  been  transferred  to 
Byzantium,  the  bonds  of  tradition  relaxed,  and  the  Oriental 
taste,  which  had  introduced  at  Rome  the  employment  of 
mosaics  and  coloured  marbles,  again  rose  into  the  ascendant, 
and  proportions  were  sacrificed  to  masses,  and  beauty  of 
lines  to  conspicuousness  of  ornaments.  Somewhat  later  a 
new  style  of  architecture  came  into  vogue,  which,  without 
inventing  anything,  changed  everything.  Taking  up  what 
was  exceptional  at  Rome,  namely,  the  cupola,  architects 
forthwith  made  it  the  chief  feature  and  best-known  charac- 
teristic of  their  art  Persian  influence,  it  is  supposed,  had 
something  to  do  with  the  development  of  this  particular 
style,  which  was  named  Byzantine,  and  of  which  the  church 
of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople  remains  the  greatest  model. 
While  this  occurred  in  the  East,  the  West  remained  faithful 
to  the  rules  of  Vitruvius,  and  continued  to  obey  the  instruc- 
tions it  had  received.  Even  the  triumph  of  Christianity  did 
not  bring  about  a  sudden  revolution  in  the  arrangement  of 
religious  houses.  The  Christians  contented  themselves  with 
choosing  among  the  public  monuments  the  form  which  was 
most  suitable  to  their  religious  ceremonies.  For  instance, 
the  basilica — introduced  by  the  Romans  for  the  transaction 
of  negotiations  or  of  judicial  business — an  oblong  building 


104  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

divided  in  the  direction  of  its  length  into  a  nave  and  three 
aisles,  was  easily  adapted  to  the  Christian  service.  The 
aisles  were  set  aside  for  the  accommodation  of  the  men 
and  women  ;  while  in  the  nave  the  catechumens,  the  choir, 
and  the  minor  clergy  found  accommodation.  The  upper 
part  of  the  basilica  was  raised  above  the  level  of  the  other 
part  of  the  building  by  a  few  steps,  and  here,  when  such 
buildings  were  converted  into  churches,  divine  service  was 
performed.  In  the  middle  of  the  sanctuary  was  placed  the 
altar;  the  seat  of  the  praetor  became  the  throne  of  the 
bishop ;  and  the  priests  were  accommodated  on  a  circular 
bench,  leaning  back  at  the  extremity  of  the  great  nave,  and 
terminating  in  a  hemicycle  which  took  the  form  of  an  apsis. 
Subsequently  the  apsis  and  the  choir  were  elongated,  and 
the  low  sides  of  the  choir  were  extended  like  arms  on  each 
side  in  the  form  of  a  cross.  This  development  took  the 
name  of  the  transept.  The  square  of  the  transept — the 
point  of  intersection  of  the  transept  and  the  nave — was 
lighted  by  a  tower  or  lantern.  Afterwards  the  apsis  was 
doubled  by  the  addition  of  a  collateral  gallery,  and  chapels 
were  pierced  in  the  walls  round  the  church.  Thus  was  it 
that  these  successive  transformations,  by  means  of  which  the 
basilica  became  the  Gothic  cathedral,  operated  upon  the 
primitive  plan  devised  by  the  Roman  architects. 

The  facade  of  the  basilica  was  decorated  by  a  portico  or 
porch  which  extended  along  all  its  length.  In  front  of  the 
portico  extended  a  square  court,  whose  interior  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  gallery.  In  the  midst  of  the  court  stood  a 
fountain,  used  for  the  purpose  of  ablution,  and  the  gate  of 
entrance  was  protected  by  a  portal.  These  accessories  have, 
however,  gradually  disappeared. 

Latin  basilicas  are  no  longer  found  in  Gaul ;  indeed, 


LATIN    AND    BYZANTINE   STYLES.  105 

there  scarcely  exist  any  remains  of  them  there.  But  Rome 
presents  us  with  a  good  number,  which,  in  spite  of  later 
alterations,  have,  in  the  interior  at  least,  preserved  their 
ancient  physiognomy.  Such,  before  its  destruction  by  fire, 
was  St.  Paul's  beyond  the  walls,  a  work  of  the  time  of 
Constantine;  such  still  is  St.  Agnes  beyond  the  walls,  St. 
Croix  of  Jerusalem,  and  eight  or  nine  more.  We  will 
briefly  examine  two  or  three  of  these  edifices.  De  Brosses, 
who  saw  the  basilica  of  St.  Paul,  was  greatly  struck  by  the 
view  of  its  five  naves  or  aisles  divided  by  four  lines  of 
columns  in  white  Parian  marble,  in  alabaster,  in  cipolin 
marble,  in  breccia,  in  granite,  and  in  all  sorts  of  precious 
material.  Constantine  raised  these  magnificent  pillars  as  a 
mausofeum  to  Adrian.  The  whole  interior  shone  with  por- 
phyry. Theodosius  and  Honorius  increased  and  aggrandised 
the  edifice ;  and  after  them,  the  Popes  accumulated  within 
it  their  treasures  of  mosaics,  their  pictures  and  statues.  Set 
fire  to  and  destroyed  in  1823,  it  has  since  been  re-constructed 
according  to  its  former  plan,  and  with  equal  magnificence, 

Sainte-Marie  Majeure,  one  of  the  most  imposing  churches 
of  Rome,  is  clothed  exteriorly  with  all  the  magnificence  and 
extravagance  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  its  great  nave 
retains  all  the  beautiful  style  of  ornamentation  of  the  antique 
art.  It  belongs  to  the  fifth  century,  having  been  built  by 
Sextus  III.  in  432,  upon  the  ruins  and  with  the  remains  of 
a  temple  of  Juno.  Here  it  may  be  noted  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  ancient  churches  have  been  erected  on  the 
sites  of  pagan  temples.  More  than  twenty  in  Rome  belong 
to  this  class,  and  all  are  enriched  with  the  spoils  of  antiquity. 
Their  pillars  were  not  carved  for  the  use  they  are  now  put 
to  :  pagan  Rome  furnished  them.  At  Sainte-Marie  Mtijeure 
the  visitor  might  believe  himself  in  a  Greek  temple.  He 


106  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE 

admires  its  lofty  roof,  sustained  by  two  ranges  of  white 
columns.  "  Each  of  these,"  says  M.  Taine,  "  naked  and 
polished,  without  othei  ornament  than  the  delicate  curves  of 
their  white  capitals,  is  purely  and  truly  beautiful." 

St.  Clement's  is,  perhaps,  the  church  that  has  best  pre- 
served  all  the  constituent  features  of  the  Christian  basilica. 
In  it  nothing  is  wanting.  We  find  the  square  atrium  sur- 
rounded by  eighteen  columns  of  granite ;  the  portico  sup- 
porting the  fa£ade ;  the  great  altar,  isolated  in  the  apse  ;  and 
the  marble  slabs  where  the  clergy  took  their  seats. 

At  a  short  distance  from  St.  Agnes  beyond  the  walls 
stands  the  circular  church  of  St.  Constance.  The  interior 
diameter  of  this  edifice  is  65  feet.  Twenty-four  Corinthian 
columns  of  granite,  standing  in  couples,  sustain  the  cupola 
above  the  great  altar.  Between  the  colonnade  and  the 
ancient  wall  are  to  be  seen,  on  the  ceiling,  vine-branches 
and  youths  in  mosaic — the  joyous  appearance  of  the  youths 
leading  to  the  belief  that  the  worship  of  Bacchus  here 
preceded  the  rise  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  two 
Constances,  the  daughter  and  sister  of  Constantine,  were 
baptised  in  this  church. 

St.  Jean  in  fonte  is  the  church  in  which  it  is  believed 
Constantine  was  baptised  by  Pope  Sylvester.  Deprived  of 
its  wealth  by  the  barbarians,  restored  after  the  Renaissance, 
this  Baptistery  of  Constantine,  as  it  is  called,  has  evidently 
preserved  its  primitive  form  and  aspect.  In  the  midst  is  the 
piscina,  paved  with  beautiful  marbles,  and  comprising  a  vase 
of  green  porphyry.  The  font  is  covered  with  a  cupola  which 
sustains  two  superposed  ranges  of  brick  columns.  At  the 
entry  of  the  chapel  there  still  exist  two  vast  and  rich  columns 
of  porphyry,  of  which  the  entablature  is  antique. 

St^  Etienne-le-Rond,  to  which  we  next  turn,  was  con- 


LATIN   AND    BYZANTINE    STYLES.  IO? 

structed  in  the  fifth  century  by  Pope  Simplicius,  with  the 
debris  and  on  the  site  of  a  temple  of  Claudius.  This 
religious  edifice  is  little  more  than  a  baptistry.  From  the 
central  part  of  the  building,  which  is  its  highest  part,  rises  a 
conical  roof,  relieved  by  another  which  surmounts  the  col- 
lateral aisle.  Two  circular  ranges  of  columns,  of  different 
styles  of  architecture,  support  and  divide  the  edifice. 
Originally  there  was  a  third,  but  it  was  destroyed  in  the 
fifteenth  century. 

Turning  eastwards,  we  find  that  at  Constantinople  the 
long  naves  of  the  religious  edifices  are  metamorphosed  into 
a  series  of  square  chambers  surmounted  by  cupolas.  Here 
the  proportions  of  the  antique  basilicas  are  altered  and  lost ; 
but  great  beauties  make  up  for  the  loss.  The  boldness  of 
the  cornices,  the  powerful  relief  of  the  supports,  the  pendants 
and  corbels  which  connect  the  square  nave  with  the  circular 
cupola,  the  unity  of  the  entire  edifice,  all  parts  of  which  bear 
upon  the  central  mass,  supporting  and  sustaining  it,  are  the 
chief  features  of  Byzantine  art,  and  make  it  both  original  and 
captivating.  The  barbarity  of  the-  capitals  in  which  the 
Corinthian  acanthus  degenerates  into  a  meagre  fillet,  the 
strange  mixture  of  figures  in  mosaic  0*1  a  ground  of  gold 
which  replace  the  breathing  sculptures  and  the  delicate 
ornaments  of  the  ancient  temples,  are  faults  that  are 
forgotten  in  the  harmonious  impression  of  the  whole — 
a  harmony  which  has  caused  many  travellers  and  artists 
to  prefer  St.  Sophia's  at  Constantinople  to  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome. 

At  the  present  day  there  remains  no  trace  of  the  first 
St.  Sophia,  built  in  the  fourth  century  by  Constantine.  After 
having  been  frequently  burnt,  it  was  totally  reduced  to 
ashes  in  the  vear  532.  Justinian  caused  it  to  be  rebuilt  by 


I08  MARVELS    OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

Anthemius  de  'Tralles  and  Isidore  de  Milet  Ephesus, 
Palmyra,  Pergamos,  and  a  multitude  of  cities  and  temples 
were  despoiled  to  enrich  it,  and  furnished  to  the  architects 
columns  of  porphyry  and  of  granite,  which  were  prodigally 
lavished  upon  its  interior.  Ten  thousand  workmen  were 
employed  in  the  construction  of  its  brick  ramparts,  vaults, 
and  mosaics.  Its  peculiar  beauties  were  such  that,  notwith- 
standing the  mutilations  to  which  the  Turks  subjected  it 
in  1453,  we  can  still  appreciate  the  proud  exclamation  of 
Justinian,  referring  to  the  Temple  of  Jerusaleu — "  Solomon, 
I  have  surpassed  thee  !" 

The  proportions  of  St  Sophia  are  by  no  means  gigantic. 
It  measures  only  266  feet  by  248.  Its  exterior  is  somewhat 
naked,  and  is  disfigured  by  a  number  of  buildings  which 
hide  the  general  outlines.  Between  the  buttresses — raised 
by  Amurrath  III.  to  sustain  the  walls  shaken  by  successive 
earthquakes — tombs,  schools,  baths,  stalls,  &c.,  are  crowded. 
But  putting  out  of  consideration  this  confusion,  and  for- 
getting the  four  hybrid  minarets  with  which  conquerors 
have  flanked  the  great  mass  itself,  the  spectator  cannot  but 
admire  the  beautiful  curves  of  the  apse,  and  the  central 
cupola,  whose  elliptical  shape  exaggerates  its  size. 

Two  long  covered  porticoes  lead  up  to  the  body  of  the 
church,  the  second  of  which  communicates  by  nine  gates 
with  the  interior.  So  soon  as  he  enters  the  building,  the 
visitor  takes  in  at  a  glance  the  entire  conception  of  the 
architect,  and  is  forced  to  render  homage  to  the  genius  which, 
casting  aside  tke  restrictions  of  the  classic  school,  combined 
in  such  perfect  accord  the  circle  and  the  straight  line. 
Around  the  basilica,  up  to  the  height  where  the  vault  springs, 
are  vast  rows  of  seats,  supported  by  richly  decorated  circular 
galleries.  Nothing  can  equal  the  majesty  of  these  porticoes, 


Hteror  of  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople. 


LATIN   AND    BYZANTINE   STYLES.  Ill 

in  the  Corinthian  capitals  of  which  animals,  allegorical 
figures,  and  crosses  are  interlaced  among  the  leaves. 

St.  Sophia  has  lost  all  its  ornaments.  The  iconoclastic 
zeal  of  the  Moslem  has  left  it  nothing  but  its  precious 
pavement,  which  was  always  concealed  under  carpets. 
The  statues  have  been  removed ;  the  altar,  made  of  an 
unknown  metal,  which  was  a  mixture  of  gold,  silver, 
bronze,  iron,  and  precious  stones,  melted  together,  is  now 
replaced  by  a  slab  of  red  marble.  Of  the  mosaics  on  a'  gold 
ground,  with  which  the  building  was  at  one  time  enriched, 
only  the  four  gigantic  cherubim  have  been  preserved,  but 
the  heads  of  these  figures  are  concealed  under  a  rose  of 
gold — the  reproduction  of  the  human  face  being  a  horror  to 
the  Mussulman.  At  the  end  of  the  sanctuary  may  con- 
fusedly be  perceived  the  lines  of  a  colossal  figure  which 
time  has  not  yet  obliterated.  This  represents  Sophia,  the 
goddess  of  wisdom  and  patroness  of  the  church,  who,  under 
her  semi-transparent  veil  looks  down  upon  the  ceremonies 
of  a  foreign  worship. 

In  the  West,  Byzantine  art  took  root  first  in  the  posses- 
sions of  the  Greek  Emperors  in  Italy.  The  church  of  St. 
Vital,  at  Ravenna,  was  constructed  in  the  sixth  century,  at 
the  same  time  as  St.  Sophia.  This  religious  edifice  is  small 
and  octagonal.  Its  cupola  is  supported  upon  eight  large 
pillars  resting  upon  eight  apses ;  and  between  the  pillars 
and  the  apses  runs  an  aisle,  from  which  each  apse  is  separated 
by  three  arcades.  A  gallery  runs  round  the  church,  above 
which  springs  the  cupola,  pierced  by  eight  windows. 

St.  Vital  is  removed  still  further  than  St.  Sophia  from 
classic  architectural  traditions;  none  of  its  ornaments 
having  been  borrowed  from  the  ancient  monuments.  Cer- 
tain capitals  distinctly  recall  the  Corinthian ;  but  the  volutes 


[12  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

and  the  foliage  are  very  far  from  being  pure.  Most  of  them 
are  square  at  the  top,  and  assume  by  insensible  gradations 
the  circular  form.  Sculptured  trellis-work  helps  to  redeem 
the  poverty  of  the  outline. 

Like  all  the  Byzantine  constructions,  St.  Vital  has,  in 
spite  of  its  limited  dimensions,  an  aspect  of  decided 
grandeur  and  character.  Very  beautiful  mosaics  and  mar- 
bles formerly  lent  to  it  a  splendour  of  which  it  is  now 
deprived,  the  choir  alone  having  preserved  its  primitive 
decorations.  Unfortunately  some  one  has  painted  the 
cupola  with  a  still  life  illusion,  and  visitors  are  shocked  by 
seeing  in  the  inside  of  the  vaj'ft  a  representation  of  a 
Corinthian  colonnade. 

The  church  which  Charlemagne  constructed  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  and  which  he  considered  superior  to  all  the 
churches  in  the  world,  is  but  a  barbarous  copy  of  St.  Vital. 
It  is  a  curious  specimen  of  the  poor  talent  and  depraved 
taste  of  the  Western  architects  of  that  period.  Astonish- 
ment need  not  be  felt  that  Charlemagne,  one  of  the  most 
intelligent  men  of  his  time,  knew  much  less  about  archi- 
tecture than  a  modern  school-boy.  At  that  time  it  was 
difficult  to  find  a  workman  who  could  carve  a  capital  or 
even  square  a  monolith.  Such  was  the  poverty  of  skilled 
labour,  that  the  common  expedient  was  to  rob  an  old  edifice 
in  order  to  furnish  material  for  a  new  one.  Proceeding 
upon  this  principle,  Charlemagne  caused  certain  columns  to 
be  transposed  from  Ravenna  to  Aix-la-Chapelle  for  the 
adornment  of  this  church,  which  is  interesting  only  for  the 
memorials  it  contains,  being  a  kind  of  historical  sanctuary. 

"  St.  Mark  of  Venice,"  says  Theophile  Gautier,  "  is  a  St 
Sophia  in  miniature,  a  reduction  on  the  scale  of  an  inch  to 
the  foot,  of  the  immense  structure  of  Justinian.  Nor  is  this 


LATIN    AND    BYZANTINE    STYLES.  IIj 

to  be  wondered  at  Venice,  which  a  narrow  sea  only 
separates  from  Greece,  was  always  in  familiarity  with  the 
East,  and  its  architects  sought  out  and  reproduced  the  type 
of  church  which  was  then  considered  the  most  beautiful  and 
rich  in  the  Christian  world.  St.  Mark  was  commenced  in 
979,  under  the  Doge  Peter  Orseolo.  Its  architects  had  the 
advantage  of  seeing  St.  Sophia  in  all  its  integrity  and  splen- 
dour, before  it  had  been  profaned  by  Mahomet  II.,  in  the 
year  1453." 

Under  the  five  small  domes  at  the  sides  of  the  structure, 
open  up  the  seven  porches  of  the  facade,  of  which  five  lead 
into  the  central  atrium,  and  two  into  the  exterior  side 
galleries.  The  depth  of  these  portals  is  garnished  with 
columns  in  cipolin  and  pentelic  marbles,  in  jasper,  and  in 
other  precious  materials.  "  The  central  door,  whose  outline 
cuts  the  balustrade  of  marble  that  runs  above  the  other 
arcade,  is,  as  it  should  be,  richer  and  more  ornate  than  the 
others.  Besides  the  mass  of  columns  in  antique  marble 
which  support  it  and  give  it  importance,  three  tiers  of 
sculptured  ornaments  exquisitely  carved  bring  out  into  bold 
relief  its  outline  by  their  projection.  Above  this  porch  are 
placed  the  celebrated  horses  of  Lysippus,  which  for  a  time 
ornamented  the  Arc  du  Carrousel  at  Paris.  Mosaics  upon 
a  gold  ground  shine  on  all  the  porches  in  the  midst  of 
enamels,  and  numberless  figures  of  every  kind." 

The  Atrium,  whose  round  vault  presents  in  mosaics 
the  history  of  the  Old  Testament,  leads  to  the  nave  by 
three  bronze  gates  ornamented  with  silver,  which  it  is  said 
belonged  originally  to  St.  Sophia. 

"Let  us  enter,"  says  an  observer,  "into  the  interior. 
Nothing  can  compare  with  St.  Mark's,  neither  Cologne,  noi 
Strasbourg,  nor  Seville,  nor  even  Cordova  with  its  mosque. 

i 


114  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Its  effect  is  surprising  and  even  magical.  The  first  impres- 
sion conveyed  is  that  of  a  cavern  of  gold  encrusted  with 
precious  stones  which  are  at  once  splendid  and  sombre, 
sparkling  and  mysterious. 

"  Cupolas,  vaults,  architraves,  and  walls  are  covered 
with  little  cubes  of  gilt  crystal  of  unique  form,  among 
which  the  rays  of  light  sparkle  like  the  scales  of  a  fish. 
Where  the  gold  ground  terminates,  at  the  height  of  the 
columns  commences  a  clothing  of  the  most  precious  and 
varied  marbles.  From  the  vault  descends  a  great  lamp  in 
the  shape  of  a  cross  of  four  branches,  whose  points  are  de- 
corated with  lilies,  and  which  hangs  from  a  ball  of  gold 
filigree.  The  effect  is  marvellous  when  the  lamp  is  illumi- 
nated. Six  pillars  of  alabaster  with  capitals  in  bronze-gilt 
of  Corinthian  pattern  support  elegant  arcades,  around  which 
runs  a  gallery  the  whole  length  of  the  church. 

"  In  the  area  is  the  choir  with  its  altar  upon  a  dais 
between  four  columns  of  Greek  marble  carved,  like  a  piece 
of  Chinese  ivory-work,  by  the  most  patient  industry.  The 
altar-screen,  which  is  called  the  Pala  d'Oro,  is  quite  a  con- 
fusion of  wonders  It  blazes  with  enamels,  cameos,  pearls, 
sapphires,  silver  and  gold,  while  pictures  in  precious  stones 
represent  scenes  in  the  life  of  St.  Mark.  It  was  made  in 
Constantinople,  in  976.  Finally,  in  the  circle  behind  the 
great  altar  is  a  colossal  figure  of  the  Redeemer." 

St.  Front  of  Perigueux  is  a  reproduction  of  St.  Mark's,  as 
St.  Mark's  is  a  reproduction  of  St.  Sophia.  It  is  executed 
upon  the  same  plan  minus  the  vestibule;  and  the  dimen- 
sions of  both  are  almost  the  same.  But  in  this  instance 
one  looks  in  vain  for  the  wealth  and  splendour  of  the 
model.  St.  Front  is  poor  and  naked.  Under  the  sad  stone- 
colour  of  its  walls  there  are  no  mosaics.  And  yet  the 


Cathedral  of  Angouldme. 


LATIN    AND    BYZANTINE    SfYLES.  Ii; 

edifice  is  grand  in  character.  So  much  power  is  there  in  a 
simple  arrangement  conceived  in  a  great  spirit ! 

After  the  erection  of  St.  Front,  cupola-churches  multi- 
plied themselves  throughout  France;  but  their  architects 
abandoned  in  their  construction  the  arrangement  and  style 
of  the  Byzantine  works.  Even  at  this  early  period  a  new 
character  began  to  be  manifest  in  the  architecture  o:  the 
West.  In  St.  Front  itself  we  find  that  Byzantine  traditions 
are  departed  from,  and  in  its  arches,  instead  of  the  round 
circle  of  the  East,  we  begin  to  notice  a  tendency  to  point 
the  arch.  The  pointed  arch  is  the  exclusive  feature  of  the 
Gothic  style,  and  from  its  introduction  dates  the  era  of 
French  architecture.  French  architects  in  modifying  their 
works,  and  adapting  them  to  the  colder  climate  of  the  West, 
changed  the  plan,  aspect,  and  ornaments  of  their  churches. 
Sculpture  reassumed  its  place  upon  the  capitals  and  the 
walls,  instead  of  the  many -coloured  image -work  of  the 
mosaists.  Churches,  in  short,  became  at  the  same  time 
more  severe  and  more  ornate. 

The  cathedral  of  Angouleme  (1017 — 1120)  is  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  types  of  this  transition  between  the 
Eastern  or  Byzantine  and  Romanesque  order  or  Western 
style.  To  the  former  belong  the  three  cupolas  that  cover 
the  nave ;  to  the  latter  the  general  form  of  the  building — 
its  Latin  cross,  its  transepts  and  apses,  its  historic  frieze, 
its  crown  of  double  arcades,  and  its  corbelled  cornice.  As 
in  St.  Front,  the  arches  that  sustain  the  cupola  are  narrowed 
at  the  top.  Moreover,  there  is  no  trace  of  the  Byzantine 
school  in  the  pillarettes  flanked  with  columns,  or  in  tie 
carving  of  the  capitals,  which  consists  of  leaves  and  g,o- 
tesque  figures  of  animals. 

The  cupola  placed  at  the  crossing  of  the  transept  is 


Il8  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  same  in  diameter  as  the  cupolas  of  the  other  churches 
we  have  mentioned  ;  but  raised  as  it  is  upon  a  drum  which 
towers  high  above  the  roof,  it  looks  larger  than  it  is  in 
reality.  It  is  pierced  with  rich  arcades  of  double  columns, 
in  four  of  which  are  openings  for  windows.  The  fagade  is 
a  great  square  wall  covered  with  bassi-rilievi,  and  divided 
horizontally  by  three  rows  of  false  arcades.  Although  it  is 
no  more  than  60  feet  high,  its  great  proportions  give  it  a 
majestic  and  powerful  appearance.  On  the  left  flank  we 
admire  numerous  windows  in  the  centre  of  a  high  tower, 
recently  restored.  Of  all  the  square  towers  which  the 
traveller  sees  between  Poictiers  and  Bordeaux,  this  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  the  best  situated.  From  a  distance 
it  looks  heavy,  rising  as  it  does  by  numerous  storeys  trom 
an  irregular  tumulus;  but  this  effect  vanishes  when  it  is 
observed  close  at  hand.  The  town,  in  fact,  crowns  an 
abrupt  height  above  a  smiling  and  verdant  valley,  wherein 
rich  pasturages  alternate  with  considerable  manufactories. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE. — I.    ARAB  STYLE. 

"  THE  art  of  the  Arabs,"  says  Lamennais,  "  is  like  a  bright 
dream.  It  is  a  caprice  of  genius,  worked  in  rich  work  of 
stone,  in  delicate  filigrees,  in  light  fringes,  in  flowing  lines, 
in  lace-work,  amidst  all  which  the  eye  loses  itself  in  pur- 
suit of  a  symmetrical  form  which  it  is  about  to  grasp,  when 
the  fair  illusion  changes  into  other  beautiful  complications 
of  forms,  escapes,  and  is  dispelled.  The  various  forms  to  be 
found  in  this  species  of  architecture  look  like  a  strong  vege- 
tation— a  vegetation  luxuriant  and  also  fantastic.  Arab  art 
is  not  nature ;  it  is  a  dream  of  nature."  Still,  if  the  Arabs 
rioted  in  fanciful  decorations,  they  at  the  same  time  were 
careful  to  construct  their  edifices  on  the  simplest  and  most 
natural  plan. 

In  dimensions  and  colours  almost  all  their  mosques  are 
alike.  Umbrageous  courts  of  trees,  refreshed  by  fountains 
surrounded  by  porticoes,  stand  in  front  of  these  sanctuaries 
which  form  halls — square  or  round — surmounted  by  cupolas. 
At  the  four  corners  rise  beautiful  minarets.  The  interiors 
are  simple  in  structure,  all  the  ornaments  consisting  in 
arabesque  painted  upon  the  wall,  and  in  caligraphic  inscrip- 
tions taken  from  the  Koran.  Lamps,  ostrich- eggs,  and 
bouquets  of  flowers  hang  in  great  numbers  from  the  wires 
that  stretch  from  one  pillar  to  the  other  across  the  interiors. 
The  flags  of  the  flooring  are  concealed  by  rich  carpets. 
"  The  effect,"  says  Lamartine,  "  is  simple  and  impressive 


120  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

It  is  not  a  temple  in  which  a  god  dwells ;  it  is  a  house  of 
prayer  and  contemplation  where  men  assemble  to  adore 
the  one  immortal  God." 

One  of  the  most  ancient  and  celebrated  religious  edifices 
of  the  Arabs  is  the  mosque  raised  by  Omar  in  Jerusalem, 
within  the  wall  of  Solomon's  Temple,  and  exactly  upon  the 
rock  where  they  say  Jehovah  spoke  to  Jacob.  It  is  called 
El-Sakhra,  in  memory  of  that  event,  and  is  octagonal  in 
shape,  each  side  being  decorated  with  seven  arcades  of 
pointed  arches.  A  second  range  of  arcades,  narrower  and 
inclined  inwards,  supports  a  beautiful  dome  of  copper, 
formerly  gilt.  The  walls  are  covered  with  squares  of  blue 
enamel,  and  the  gates,  ornamented  with  beautiful  columns, 
lead  into  the  sanctuary,  which  is  covered  with  white  marble. 
Visitors  walk  upon  a  rich  many-coloured  pavement,  between 
two  circular  ranges  of  pillars  composed  of  grey  marble,  taken 
from  Bethlehem  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  In  the  seventeenth 
century,  Mr.  P.  Roger  counted  in  the  mosque  no  less  than 
7,000  chandeliers  carved  in  copper  or  in  iron  gilt.  All 
round  the  mosque  branch  off  twelve  porticoes  placed  at  the 
same  distance  the  one  from  the  other,  and  irregular,  like 
the  cloisters  of  the  Alhambra.  They  are  composed  of  three 
or  four  arcades,  and  sometimes  these  arcades  support  a 
second  range.  This  notable  edifice  was  founded  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  was  embellished  by  the  Califs 
Abd-el-Malek  and  El  Louid.  After  the  Crusades  it  was 
converted  into  a  church  by  the  Christians,  but  some  hundred 
years  later,  Saladin  gave  it  back  to  Mahomet. 

In  early  times  Moslem  art  extended  into  Africa.  Cairo, 
a  town  entirely  Arabic,  contains  very  ancient  and  very  rich 
mosques,  that  of  Ebn-Touloun  especially  being  deserving 
of  attention.  It  dates  from  the  ninth  century  (870).  Ahmed- 


ORIENTAL  ARCHITECTURE.  121 

Ben-Touloun,  the  founder  of  a  brief  dynasty,  who  caused  it 
to  be  constructed  and  gave  it  its  name,  wished  its  porticoes 
to  be  sustained  by  300  columns ;  but  the  architect  wai 
unable  to  construct  such  a  great  number.  The  mosque  is 
built  of  brick,  and  stucco  is  used  to  conceal  this  material. 

The  sanctuary  is  circular,  and  its  dimensions  are  very 
limited,  the  court  and  the  porticoes  actually  constituting 
the  mosque.  The  enclosing  wall  is  pierced  with  nine  gates. 
Around  the  court,  above  the  porticoes,  runs  a  high  and 
beautiful  frieze,  which  crowns  a  highly  ornamented  cornice. 
The  minaret  and  the  cistern — the  usual  accompaniments  of 
every  mosque — are  kept,  in  this  case,  outside  the  wall, 
opposite  the  sanctuary. 

We  must  not  quit  Cairo  without  visiting  the  Valley  of  the 
Califs,  as  the  religious  art  of  the  Arabs  shows  itself  alike  in 
their  temples  and  their  tombs. 

In  this  Valley  of  the  Califs,  Mussulman  dynasties  repose 
in  a  marvellous  necropolis  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Mokattam. 
Touloun  and  Biburs,  Saladin  and  Malek-Adel,  rest  in  a 
palace  in  which  Oriental  architecture  has  abandoned  itself 
to  the  most  delightful  caprices.  It  is  quite  a  Gothic  town, 
with  an  air  of  extraordinary  grace,  and  of  devotion  without 
gloom.  The  mosques  are  mingled  with  the  tombs,  and  the 
minarets — symbolical  of  hope — rise  from  the  midst  of  fune- 
real cupolas. 

Nowhere  have  the  Arabs  left  greater  proof  of  their 
architectural  genius  than  in  Spain,  where  their  civilisation 
nourished  for  seven  centuries.  The  Alhambra,  which  is 
perhaps  one  of  their  greatest  architectural  marvels,  must 
at  once  occur  to  every  reader.  Specially  worthy  of  admi- 
ration is  the  Court  of  Lions,  belonging  to  this  edifice — a 
quadrangle  98  feet  by  65  feet.  This  court  is  surrounded 


122  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

by  a  peristyle  of  light  columns,  ornamented  on  two  sides  by 
advanced  porticoes,  like  the  bold  portals  of  some  Gothic 
churches ;  and  is  carved  with  wonderful  accuracy,  skill, 
and  elegance. 

In  presence  of  innumerable  vistas  of  courts  and  chambers, 
fantastic  decorations  of  structures  resembling  the  tents  of 
the  desert,  and  terminating  in  conical  vaults,  the  spectator 
stands  immovable  and  mute,  and  thinks  himself  transported 
to  the  entrance  of  one  of  those  fairy  palaces  of  which  we 
read  in  Arabian  tales. 

"Airy  galleries,"  says  Chateaubriand,  "canals  con- 
structed of  white  marble,  and  bordered  by  citrons  and 
flowering  orange-trees,  fountains  and  solitary  courts,  present 
themselves  on  all  sides  before  the  eyes  of  the  traveller,  and 
across  the  long  vaults  of  the  porticoes  he  perceives  other 
labyrinths  and  new  enchantments.  The  beautiful  azure  of 
the  heavens  reveals  itself  between  the  columns  that  sustain 
a  chain  of  Gothic  arches.  The  walls,  covered  with  ara- 
besques, seem  to  the  view  like  those  cloths  of  the  East 
which  are  broidered  in  the  leisure  of  the  harem  by  the 
industrious  hands  of  a  female  slave.  Everything  luxurious, 
religious,  warlike,  seems  to  breathe  in  this  magnificent 
edifice.  It  is  a  sort  of  bower  of  love  in  a  mysterious  re- 
treat, in  which  the  Moorish  kings  enjoyed  all  the  pleasuers 
and  forgot  all  the  cares  of  life." 

The  decorations  of  the  Alhambra  consist  of  varnished 
tiles  of  all  colours — yellow,  red,  black,  green,  and  white — 
forming  mosaics  which  covered  the  walls  with  a  kind  of 
carpet-work  in  flowers,  knots,  zig-zags;  and  inscriptions, 
sculptured  in  low  relief  upon  the  stucco  and  plaster.  No- 
thing, for  instance,  could  be  more  charming  than  the  walls 
of  the  Halls  of  the  Ambassadors,  inscribed  with  verses  of 


A  View  in  the  Alhambra. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE.  125 

the  Koran,  and  stanzas  of  poetry  in  the  Arabic  caligraphy ; 
while  the  ceiling  of  cedar-wood,  a  marvel  of  carpentry, 
presents  an  actual  problem  of  geometric  forms. 

If  we  except  a  number  of  columns,  some  flags,  vases, 
basins,  and  little  niches  for  placing  Turkish  slippers,  there 
is  not  perhaps  a  single  piece  of  marble  employed  in  the 
interior  decorations  of  the  Alhambra.  The  same  fact  is  to 
be  observed  respecting  all  the  Arabic  monuments  of  Cordova, 
Segovia,  Seville,  Valladolid,  and  Toledo.  Stucco  and  plaster 
were  found  to  suffice  for  all  the  Moorish  ornamentation. 

The  splendid  and  famous  mosque  of  Cordova  is  com- 
posed of  nineteen  colonnades  or  porticoes  in  horse-shoe 
arcades.  In  front  of  the  faQade  is  a  court  surrounded  with 
galleries,  commenced  in  786.  This  edifice,  which  was  as 
dear  to  the  Arabs  of  Spain  as  St^  Sophia  was  to  the 
Byzantines,  and  St.  Peter's  to  the  early  Christians,  was 
restored  and  enriched  at  different  times.  It  received  ex- 
tensions and  additions  as  late  as  the  tenth  century.  Its 
height  is  not  extraordinary,  being  only  30  feet  from  its  base 
to  the  woodwork  at  the  roof ;  but  its  horizontal  dimensions 
are  colossal.  The  mosque  properly  so  called  is  400  feet 
long  by  366  broad.  Isolated  columns  to  the  number  of 
646  support  the  arcade,  exclusive  of  the  engaged  columns, 
or  those  that  form  the  three  porticoes  of  the  court.  Formerly 
they  were  much  more  numerous,  before  the  mutilations 
which  the  building  has  from  time  to  time  suffered,  took 
place. 

Exquisite  is  the  characteristic  of  all  Arab  conceptions. 
While  the  walls  of  the  old  towns  of  the  north  of  Spain  are 
heavy  and  coarsely  built,  like  the  defences  improvised  by  a 
people  in  extremities,  the  Moorish  fortifications  are  light, 
graceful,  and  constructed  with  true  artistic  skill  Foi 


126  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

instance,  the  towers  of  the  walls  of  Seville,  embellished 
with  brick  lines,  courses  of  white  stone,  and  Arabic  in- 
scriptions, were  so  carefully  built,  and  with  materials  so 
well  chosen,  that  their  edges  and  ridges  are  still  as  sharp  as 
when  they  were  first  constructed.  The  length  of  the  walls 
is  about  six  miles.  Of  their  fifteen  gates  the  most  have 
been  reconstructed  and  modified ;  but  the  well-known 
"  Gate  of  Cordova,"  among  others,  has  preserved  its  high 
square  fortress.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  gate  there  is 
an  aqueduct  of  400  arches,  eighteen  miles  in  length,  which 
shows  that  the  Arabs  were  equal  to  the  Romans  in  the 
conveyance  of  water  from  place  to  place. 

It  is  in  Spain  that  Mussulman  art  has  displayed  its 
boldest  and  most  original  invention.  In  the  East  it  had 
often  been  inspired  by  Byzantine  models;  and  it  is  not 
therefore  astonishing  that  St.  Sophia,  that  queen  of  mosques, 
was  taken  as  the  pattern  for  many  of  the  lesser  religious 
sanctuaries  of  Constantinople.  The  Turks  brought  with 
them  lessons  from  Persia,  which  had  some  influence  upon 
Byzantine  architecture.  The  mosque  of  Achmet,  of  which 
Gautier  gives  us  a  pleasing  picture,  was  entirely  vaulted 
in  semi-domes,  which  supported  a  central  cupola.  In  front 
of  it  was  a  court,  surrounded  by  a  quadruple  portico,  sup- 
porting columns  with  black  and  white  capitals,  and  with 
bases  of  bronze. 

"  The  style  of  all  this  architecture,"  says  he,  "  is  noble 
and  pure,  and  recalls  the  best  epochs  of  Arabic  art,  al- 
though its  construction  does  not  date  further  back  than  the 
seventeenth  century.  A  gate  of  bronze  gave  access  into 
the  interior  of  the  mosque.  What  struck  us  first  were  the 
four  enormous  pillars,  or  rather  fluted  towers,  which  bore 
the  weight  of  the  principal  cupola.  Fifteen  men,  it  is  said, 


Interior  of  the  Mosque  of  Cordova. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE.  I2p 

could  not  embrace  them.  These  pillars,  with  capitals  carved 
in  stalactites,  were  surrounded  at  middle  height  by  a  plain 
band  covered  with  inscriptions  in  the  Turkish  character. 
They  wore  an  air  of  robust  majesty  and  indestructible 
power." 

The  construction  of  the  minarets,  encircled  with  balconies 
wrought  like  bracelets,  was  the  occasion  of  a  curious  debate 
between  the  Sultan  and  the  Imam  of  the  mosque.  During 
the  construction  of  the  mosque  the  Imam  cried  out  against 
the  impiety  and  the  sacrilegious  pride  of  giving  it  the  same 
number  of  minarets  as  St.  Kaaba,  and  said  that  no  other 
mosque  should  dare  to  rival  the  Holy  Kaaba  in  splendour. 
The  works  were  in  consequence  interrupted,  the  Sultan  not 
knowing  what  to  do.  He  wished  to  place  six  minarets  on 
his  own  mosque,  but  he  could  not  erect  them  because  that 
was  the  number  of  the  minarets  of  St.  Kaaba,  which  it  was 
sacrilege  to  rival.  At  length  he  fell  on  an  ingenious  plan  to 
shut  the  Imam's  mouth.  He  caused  a  seventh  minaret  to 
be  built  at  Kaaba. 


a.  INDIA. 

"Who  does  not  know  Puri?  Puri,  whose  lofty  temple 
serves  as  a  landmark  to  navigators — Puri,  the  grand  ren- 
dezvous of  the  people,  the  ancient  dwelling-place  of  the 
gods  !  Come  to  Puri,  come ;  you  will  there  see  marvels 
without  number!"  With  this  proclamation  the  Brahmin 
missionaries  travel  to  the  remotest  tribes  of  India.  Puri  is 
situated  100  leagues  from  Calcutta,  upon  the  coast  of  Bengal. 
It  stands  in  the  midst  of  a  sacred  country,  and  in  this  sacred 
town  is  situated  the  famous  Temple  of  Juggernaut,  the  very 
sight  of  which  is  said  to  bring  a  blessing  upon  the  head  of 

J 


1.50  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  spectator,  to  cure  diseases,  and  ensure  paradise  to  those 
that  remain  upon  its  sacred  soil. 

Here  twelve  times  a  year  devotees  suspend  themselves 
upon  sharp  hooks,  throw  themselves  upon  mattresses  brist- 
ling with  poignards,  or  have  themselves  crushed  under  the 
wheels  of  the  great  car  which  bears  the  Brahminic  Trinity. 
Those  who  witness  this  immolation,  gash  themselves  120 
times  (the  sacred  number)  with  knives,  or  content  themselves 
with  piercing  their  tongues,  out  of  pure  ecstatic  joy.  In 
these  ceremonies  the  proud  Brahmins  mingle  humbly  with 
the  lower  classes,  whom  they  consider  impure.  So  great 
is  the  majesty  of  Juggernaut  that  all  are  equal  before  him, 
and  all  social  distinctions  disappear  in  presence  of  his 
immensity. 

The  Asiatic  Society  has  presented  the  French  Govern- 
ment with  a  model  of  the  temple  and  the  processional 
car  of  Juggernaut.  This  precious  specimen  of  Indian  art 
of  the  Middle  Ages  (1198)  is  placed  in  the  Louvre  at 
Paris. 

The  temple,  or  rather  temples  (for  there  are  more  than 
fifty)  are  enclosed  by  a  rampart  forming  a  square  of  6,500 
feet.  Each  side  is  pierced  by  a  large  gate.  Opposite  the 
Gate  of  Lions,  which  is  held  in  great  veneration  because  it 
is  supposed  to  serve  as  a  passage  for  the  gods,  rises,  in  a 
street  130  feet  wide,  a  fluted  column  of  black  basalt,  42  feet 
high,  surmounted  by  a  statue,  and  forming  by  its  elegance  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  stupendous  enclosure. 

Above  the  entrance  rises  a  square  tower  of  five  storeys. 
Upon  its  platform  is  a  small  pyramid  fronted  by  a  sort  of 
terrace,  guarded  by  two  sculptured  animals.  At  the  side  an 
opening  allows  us  to  perceive  two  hippopotami  upon  the 
summit  of  an  interior  edifice.  In  a  second  court  rises  a 


ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE;  13 1 

grand  gilt  post  bearing  a  gilt  clock,  and  a  little  circular 
temple  with  a  dome  supported  by  columns.  Here  is  to 
be  seen  all  the  confusion  and  wealth  of  Ellora.  Besides 
these,  there  are  winged  genii,  gods,  goddesses,  and  fantastic 
animals  sculptured  at  the  gates  of  the  temples,  upon  the 
walls,  or  at  the  summits  of  the  pyramids. 

Upon  the  flanks  of  the  enclosing  wall  are  other  two 
towers.  At  the  bottom  there  are  superb  square  pyramidal 
structures  of  eleven  storeys,  rising  to  a  height  of  210  feet; 
with  ground-floors  130  feet  in  extent.  Columns,  pilasters, 
and  an  infinite  number  of  statues,  ornament  the  walls 
and  surmount  the  terraces;  while  in  the  interior  are  gal- 
leries and  colonnades.  It  is  in  this  temple  that  the  great 
platform  called  the  Throne  of  Jewels  is  found ;  and  here, 
exposed  from  age  to  age,  are  huge  images  of  painted  wood, 
representing  Juggernaut,  Balarama  his  brother,  and  Chou- 
boudra  his  sister.  Juggernaut  has  great  round  eyes,  a 
pointed  nose,  black  visage,  and  a  wide  mouth  of  the  colour 
of  blood.  It  is  he  who,  from  the  summit  of  a  tower  of  70 
feet,  presides  over  the  immolation  of  the  faithful. 

The  Temple  of  Juggernaut  is  a  perfect  type  of  that  mon- 
strous Indian  imagination,  which  unfolds  itself  in  strange 
beauties  in  the  midst  of  blood  and  cruelty. 

The  Afghan  and  Mongol  invaders  engrafted  on  the 
Hindu  fecundity  the  elegance  of  the  Mussulman.  From  the 
fifteenth  century  an  art  rivalling  the  Moorish  art  continued 
to  enrich  Bengal  with  palaces,  tombs,  and  mosques,  of  which 
scarcely  anything  but  the  ruins  are  to  be  seen.  We  can 
only  glance  at  Delhi,  where  three  distinct  architectural  types 
may  be  seen — that  of  ancient  Hindu  Delhi,  which  has  almost 
entirely  disappeared ;  that  of  Afghan  Delhi ;  and  that  of 
modern  Delhi,  which  is  the  work  of  the  Mongols,  or.  in 

J    2 


13*  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

other  words,  of  the  Tartar  Turcomans,  who  are  of  the  same 
stock  as  the  Turks. 

Among  the  temples,  palaces,  fortresses,  and  tombs  of  Delhi, 
the  forsaken  remains  of  which  cover  the  soil,  we  may  notice 
here  the  pillar  or  minaret  of  Koutab,  a  word  signifying  the 
polar  star  of  religion — the  name  of  the  first  Afghan  sovereign. 
The  base  of  this  singular  monument  is  almost  143  feet  in 
circumference.  Its  height  is  said  to  have  been  312  feel 
before  it  was  struck  with  lightning.  At  the  present  time  it 
is  208  feet  It  is  constructed  of  stone,  gradually  diminish- 
ing in  width  from  the  base  upwards,  and  divided  into  five 
storeys,  crowned  with  galleries  admirably  carved  and  orna- 
mented with  colossal  Arabic  inscriptions  in  relief. 

At  a  little  distance  shines  the  splendid  dome  of  the  col- 
<ege  of  Akbar.  Here  is  the  vast  mausoleum,  in  white  marble, 
of  Shamshadin-Altanish ;  here  are  the  tombs  of  the  Nizam- 
id-Din  and  the  Begum  Jehanira;  here  also  is  the  sepul- 
chre of  Houmaroun,  a  beautiful  edifice  in  granite  covered 
with  marble,  constructed  with  the  simplicity  of  the  best 
Roman  style,  and  of  which  the  vast  dome,  in  white  marble, 
overlooks  the  gardens,  towers,  minarets,  and  circular  walls 
that  enclose  it. 

Days  would  not  be  sufficient  to  visit  all  the  monuments 
of  Delhi;  but  we  must  mention  the  Jumna-Mosjed,  which  is, 
in  the  opinion  of  most  travellers,  the  most  important  mosque 
in  the  world.  It  is  a  vast  monument,  constructed  of  red 
stone  encrusted  with  beautiful  white  marble,  which  covers 
only  the  domes.  Its  square  court  in  front  is  surrounded  on 
three  sides  by  covered  colonnades,  across  which  we  see  the 
town  and  the  trees.  It  can  contain  12,000  persons,  and  it 
is  filled  with  the  faithful  on  the  day  when,  each  year,  the 
king  comes  to  be  present  at  the  last  hour  of  the  Ramazan. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE.  133 

We  here  notice  a  superb  flight  of  steps,  and  some  minarets 
162  feet  high.  According  to  common  opinion,  the  Jumna- 
Mosjed  dates  from  1560. 


3.    PERSIA  AND   CHINA. 

The  imposing  ruins  which  the  art  of  the  Persians  has  left 
us,  scarcely  prepare  us  for  the  marvellous  lightness  of  most 
Persian  structures.  The  ancestors  of  the  Persians  gave  proof 
of  their  native  energy  by  the  majesty  of  their  colonnades 
and  their  stairs.  An  enervated  and  refined  people,  inhabit- 
ing a  very  hot  country,  thought  only  of  air  and  perfume  in 
the  construction  of  their  great  edifices.  Accordingly  we 
find  in  Persia  the  most  aerial  of  all  architectural  styles. 
There  are  to  be  found  collections  of  slender  columns,  and 
immense  open  saloons,  shining  with  all  the  colours  of 
enamels.  There  also,  sown  with  flowers  and  verdure,  are 
to  be  found  those  painted  galleries  and  pavilions  which 
are  described  in  the  pages  of  the  "  Thousand  and  One 
Nights." 

Ispahan  surpasses  the  chief  works  of  the  Arabs  in 
elegance,  and  transcends  the  churches  of  Genoa  or  Rome  in 
richness  of  interiors.  Neither  the  grace  nor  the  ornamenta- 
tion of  its  buildings  interferes  with  their  grandeur.  The 
Mosque  of  the  Congregation,  the  largest  and  one  of  the  most 
ancient  in  all  Persia,  occupies  a  space  of  forty  acres.  It 
appears  to  have  been  constructed  between  1000  and  1200  A.D. 
Its  figure  is  square,  covered  with  seven  domes  and  sustained 
by  forty  pilasters.  The  lower  part  of  its  walls,  to  the  height 
of  6  feet,  are  of  porphyry,  waved  and  marbled.  Above  that 
height  squares  of  enamel  form  the  coating,  both  outside  and 


134  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

inside.  Among  the  verses  and  proverbs  which  are  written 
on  the  frieze  and  the  cornices,  Chardin  notices  this  inscrip- 
tion :  "  This  is  the  frontispiece  of  Paradise.  Neither  the 
avaricious  nor  hypocrites  can  enter  here." 

The  great  dome  is  more  than  100  feet  in  diameter.  It 
is  named  the  Choir  of  the  Temple,  and  in  front  of  it  is  a 
spacious  court  surrounded  by  arcades  supported  by  large 
pilasters.  A  large  square  basin  stands  in  the  middle  of  the 
court,  intended  for  ablutions  ;  and  fountains  and  reservoirs 
everywhere  abound,  even  under  the  cupolas. 

The  Royal  Mosque,  raised  by  Abbas  the  Great  at  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  upon  the  principal  square  of 
Ispahan,  surpasses  the  one  we  have  mentioned  in  richness, 
without,  perhaps,  equalling  it  in  nobleness  and  dimensions. 
Its  forms  are  less  simple,  the  basins,  courts,  and  cupolas 
being  all  polygonal  in  shape.  Imagination  itself  seems 
almost  lost  in  the  attempt  to  enumerate  the  long  porticoes 
open  to  the  air  of  heaven,  the  balconies,  the  fountains, 
domes,  and  minarets.  Precious  metals  and  stones  of  the 
loveliest  colours,  porphyry,  jasper,  plates  of  solid  silver, 
gildings,  blue  enamels,  and  varnished  tiles,  are  profusely 
used  in  the  portals  and  walls.  A  large  pavilion,  upon 
arcades,  covered  by  a  cupola  so  high  that  it  can  be  seen  from 
a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  occupies  the  central  part  of  the 
mosque,  while  four  other  domes  crown  the  neighbouring 
porticoes.  The  whole  structure  is  constructed  of  stone 
covered  with  painted  bricks. 

Without  doubt,  the  most  magnificent  of  the  thirty-seven 
palaces  which  the  Sophis  possess  in  Ispahan  is  the  Royal 
Palace.  Few  structures  in  the  world  equal  it  in  extent.  It 
is  a  vast  succession  of  halls,  kiosks,  and  open  pavilions, 
situated  amid  gardens.  In  the  Saloon  of  the  Stable,  on  great 


ORIENTAL  ARCHITECTURE.  131, 

fete-days,  the  horses  of  the  king,  harnessed  with  precious 
stones  and  with  bridles  of  gold,  are  exhibited.  The  Saloon 
of  Vases,  on  the  other  hand,  is  carpeted  with  a  fabric  made 
of  gold  and  silk.  It  is  the  gayest  and  most  delightful  of 
places,  and  is  filled  with  vases,  cups,  bottles  of  all  sorts,  in 
gold,  silver,  porcelain,  crystal,  agate,  jasper,  onyx,  and 
coral. 

The  Persians  did  not  attend  less  to  works  of  utility  than 
to  those  of  pleasure,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  Bridge  of 
Jalfa.  This  bridge  is  360  paces  long  and  13  wide.  It 
is  flanked  with  walls  of  bricks,  and  pierced  from  side  to 
side  with  galleries.  Two  exterior  cabinets  suspended  upon 
the  water  mark  the  middle  of  the  bridge.  Thirty-four  arches 
of  grey  stone,  harder  than  marble,  support  the  structure. 
They  are  constructed  upon  a  sub-basement  that  rises  so 
high  that  one  can  walk  across  it  when  the  water  is  low. 
There  are  so  many  galleries  and  arcades  above  arcades  in 
the  bridge,  that  eight  persons  going  in  the  same  direction 
might  each  have  an  arcaded  path  for  himself. 

Such  are  some  of  the  wonders  of  Ispahan  ;  but  since  the 
last  century,  Teheran  has  been  the  capital  of  the  empire, 
and  all  the  marvels  of  the  former  city  are  falling  into 
ruin. 

Chinese  architecture,  which  is  still  more  varied  and  more 
capricious  than  Persian  art,  would  present  us  with  objects 
of  admiration,  if  it  did  not  also  quite  set  aside  our  tastes 
and  run  counter  to  our  habits.  Two  hundred  years  before 
our  era  this  country  had  raised  a  wall  6co  leagues  long, 
flanked  with  towers,  and  so  wide  that  six  horsemen  could 
ride  abreast  on  its  summit.  About  the  same  time  it  had 
spanned  with  a  bridge  of  a  single  arch  a  valley  520  feet 
wide  ;  and  it  was  familiar  with  viaducts  and  suspension 


136  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

bridges.  In  the  seventh  century  a  prince  caused  to  be 
placed  before  the  gates  of  his  palace  two  columns  in  copper 
and  iron,  114  feet  high,  and  erected  upon  bases  of  metal. 
When  the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  the  country 
necessitated  the  use  of  high  towers,  the  Chinese  achieved 
marvels  in  this  kind  of  structure.  For  example,  the  great 
Porcelain  Tower  at  Nankin,  built  in  the  fifteenth  century  on 
the  site  of  a  former  one,  dating  from  the  fifth  century,  attains 
a  height  of  350  feet  Originally,  eight  chains  of  iron,  fall- 
ing from  the  summit  at  each  of  the  eight  angles,  sustained 
seventy-two  brass  bells.  Eighty  other  bells  hung  from  the 
roofs  of  the  nine  storeys,  which  were  ornamented  also  with 
128  lamps.  From  the  summit  rose  a  great  mast,  surrounded 
with  a  spiral  cage  in  open  ironwork,  and  crowned  with  a 
globe  of  an  extraordinary  size.  This  Porcelain  Tower  is 
so  named  because  of  the  brilliant  porcelain  ornaments  with 
which  its  walls  and  roof  are  decked. 

We  cannot  quit  the  extreme  east  without  glancing  at 
the  art  of  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  who  are  supposed 
to  have  come  from  Asia,  No  date  can  be  given  to  their 
Theocallis  or  their  ruined  towns,  yet  two  distinct  epochs  can 
be  assigned  them.  One  of  these  was  prior  to  the  Incas  of 
Peru,  and  the  second  comprises  the  later  centuries  of  the 
Middle  Ages.  All  the  buildings  of  the  latter  period  have 
a  character  in  common,  and  appear  to  have  been  of  a 
pyramidal  form  raised  upon  steps.  Their  appearance  is 
gigantic,  their  materials  enormous,  and  their  decoration 
monstrous.  Palenque,  Cholula,  Tiaguanaco,  and  all  the 
remains  which  explorers  have  discovered,  look  exactly  like 
the  works  of  Egyptian  savages.  The  pyramid  of  Xochicalco 
is  composed  of  five  square  buildings  placed  the  one  above 
the  other,  each  decreasing  in  size  as  they  ascend.  It  is 


ORIENTAL   ARCHITECTURE.  137 

pierced  with  gates  and  covered  with  sculptures.  A  tube 
traversed  it  from  top  to  bottom,  which  was  used  to  conduct 
the  rays  of  the  sun  when  in  the  zenith,  and  cast  them  upon 
a  sort  of  subterraneous  altar.  Here,  as  among  many  other 
nations  of  high  antiquiif,  ihe  saj  *as  the  great  object  of 
«rorsliip. 


CHAPTER  T 

ROMAN    ARCHITECTURE    (lOOO — 1250). 

IN  the  pages  of  the  old  historian  Raoul  Glaber,  it*  is  stated 
khat  the  year  1007  was  supposed  by  the  superstitious 
people  who  lived  prior  to  that  time  to  be  the  end  of  the 
world.  The  general  belief  in  this  idea  had  the  result  of 
bringing  into  existence  a  great  number  of  churches.  Old 
ones  were  demolished,  though  still  useful,  and  new  ones 
founded.  Some  unknown  genius  about  this  period  solved 
the  great  problem  of  applying  the  vault  to  the  great  nave. 
As  a  plain  arch  the  vault  was  known  to  the  Romans,  who 
even  knew  how  to  construct  four  vaults  intersecting  each 
other  in  the  centre,  but  they  only  employed  them  to  cover 
small  spaces. 

The  Latin  people  had  their  churches  burnt  down  by  the 
Normans,  and  these  had  to  be  reconstructed  upon  a  new 
principle.  Before  vaulting  the  transept  they  proceeded  to 
vault  the  aisles,  and  then  the  nave.  This  process,  though 
simple  in  appearance,  was  a  revolution  in  the  art  of  building, 
and  marked  the  inauguration  of  a  new  architecture,  namely, 
the  Romanesque.  From  this  application  of  the  vault  to 
spaces  of  more  than  50  feet  flow  all  the  innovations  of 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  The  grotesque  orna- 
mentations and  manifold  encroachments  of  the  Gothic  and 
Romanesque  styles  were  simply  the  necessary  supports  to  the 
vaults.  The  pointed  arch,  as  being  much  more  solid,  was 
the  last  innovation.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 


ROMAN   ARCHITECTURE.  139 

pointed  arch  was  originally  Gothic — it  was  Romanesque. 
During  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  the  products  of 


The  Cathedral  at  Spires. 

architecture    were   of   almost    unheard-of    variety.       Ro- 
manesque architecture  received  an  early  welcome  in  the 


140  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Valley  of  the  Rhine.  The  Cathedral  of  Spires,  built 
between  916  and  1097,  is  the  largest  church  in  Germany. 
Its  length  is  478  feet.  Like  the  cathedrals  of  Worms, 
Bonn,  and  Mayence,  it  belongs  to  the  family  of  double- 
apsed  churches — magnificent  products  of  the  early  architec- 
ture of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  are  rare  in  Europe  and 
found  mostly  in  the  Rhine  Valley.  Terminated  at  both 
extremities  with  circular  spaces,  these  churches  have  no 
fagade,  the  want  of  it  being  compensated  for  by  lateral 
portals. 

At  Spires,  the  two  apses  support  two  cupolas,  flanked 
each  with  a  like  number  of  towers.  The  interior  presents 
a  somewhat  severe  aspect,  prominent  among  the  decorations 
being  twelve  square  pillars,  which  separate  the  lofty  nave 
from  the  two  aisles.  In  the  midst  of  the  nave  upon  the 
floor  are  four  stone  roses,  which  mark  the  place  where 
St.  Bernard  preached  the  Crusade,  in  1146.  A  dozen 
steps  conduct  to  the  nave  of  the  King's  Choir,  under 
which  is  the  imperial  vault,  beneath  which  lie  nine 
emperors. 

Under  the  eastern  part  of  the  cathedral  is  a  crypt  sup- 
ported  by  twenty  short,  massive  pillars.  Here  are  to  be 
found  baptismal  fonts  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries, 
and  a  tomb  of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  with  a  crowned 
statue. 

Returning  to  France,  we  find  many  early  Romanesque 
buildings  in  the  middle  and  south  of  that  country.  At 
Toulouse,  Poictiers,  and  St.  Gilles,  for  instance,  the  Ro- 
manesque is  seen  blent  with  the  Byzantine;  while  at 
Saintes  and  Caen,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  pure  speci- 
mens of  the  former. 

St    Etienne   of   Caen   was   commenced,   in    1064,   by 


ROMAN   ARCHITECTURE.  143 

William  the  Conqueror.  It  is  built  on  the  plan  of  a  Latin 
cross,  the  portal  presenting  three  gates  on  the  ground-floor, 
above  which  are  two  ranks  of  bays  with  round  arches.  On 
each  side  of  the  gable  rises  a  high  tower,  terminated  by  a 
more  recent  addition.  The  whole  building  wears  an  aspect 
of  austere  elegance  and  monastic  severity. 

St.  Eutrope  de  Saintes,  on  the  other  hand,  has  in  its 
architecture  more  grace  and  something  of  nobleness.  Its 
vault  is  in  the  form  of  a  cradle.  From  the  exterior  we  see 
a  high  wall  in  Romanesque,  which  is  admired  for  the  ele- 
gance of  its  engaged  colonnades.  The  storeys  are  divided 
by  friezes  enriched  with  circular  flowers.  There  is  still  to 
be  traced  at  the  end  of  the  wall  a  beautiful  rotunda,  with 
bays  highly  ornamented.  This  was  the  lateral  chapel  of 
the  primitive  apse. 

The  crypt  of  the  church  prolongs  itself  under  the  choir 
and  apse,  and  admits  light  by  the  semi-circles  which  or- 
nament the  base  of  the  building.  Entering  from  the  left 
side  of  the  church,  we  remark  misshapen  pillars  which  be- 
long to  the  fifth  century,  as  an  inscription  on  their  capitals 
proves.  When  the  eyes  become  accustomed  to  the  dim 
light  of  the  crypt,  the  heavy,  massive,  severe  lines  of  its 
architecture  begin  to  disentangle  themselves  from  the 
shadows,  and  the  impressiveness  of  the  vault  commands 
the  respect  of  the  visitor.  Here  he  is  face  to  face  with  a 
structure  not  later  than  the  eleventh  century. 

The  great  nave  rests  upon  magnificent  pillars  garnished 
with  four  columns  and  with  thick  groined  vaults,  which  are 
sunk  by  time  and  the  weight  of  the  upper  mass.  The 
capitals  are  robust,  and  are  formed  of  leaves  and  grotesque 
animals.  Upon  the  whole  interior  wall  the  engaged  pillars 
round  the  aisles  correspond  with  those  of  the  nave ;  but  their 


144  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

capitals  appear  to  have  been  recarved  in  the  fourteenth 
century. 

There  is  a  beautiful  church  at  Saintes  of  a  rather  later 
date,  decorated  in  a  style  which  has  been  called  the  Ornate 
Romanesque.  Its  interior,  320  feet  long,  now  serves  as  a 
stable.  It  has  still  preserved  intact,  however,  a  very 
primitive  apse,  a  very  rich  fagade,  and  a  charming  lantern, 
the  two  storeys  of  which  are  pierced  with  twelve  double 
arcades  rising  above  a  conical  stone  roof. 

Nature  has  done  much  for  the  Cathedral  of  Puy,  its 
situation  adding  much  to  its  beauty.  It  displays  three  naves 
upon  a  narrow  space,  and  its  facade  over-runs  it  on  either 
side.  Space  having  failed  the  builder,  the  portal  is  placed 
on  the  slope  of  the  hill.  The  south  transept  is  decorated 
with  a  projecting  porch,  ornamented  with  round  arches 
within  a  pointed  arch.  Besides  a  tower  with  rich  arcades 
which  crowns  the  choir,  we  notice  an  isolated  tower,  the 
base  of  which  seems  to  have  served  as  the  baptistry.  On 
the  north  extends  a  cloister  formed  by  four  porticoes,  with 
capitals  imitated  from  the  ancient  Corinthian.  Passing  to 
the  interior,  we  are  struck  by  the  square  form  of  the  apse 
without  its  aisles,  and  by  the  eight  cupolas  that  surmount 
the  nave.  Commenced  probably  in  the  fifth  century,  re- 
constructed in  the  ninth,  finished  between  the  eleventh  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  the  cathedral  has  nevertheless  an  har- 
monious aspect.  All  the  modifications  to  which  it  has 
been  subjected  belong  to  the  two  intimately  associated 
styles  of  architecture  —the  Romanesque  and  the  Byzantine. 

St.  Sernin,  of  Toulouse,  has  been  less  fortunate.  Addi- 
tions of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  and  still  more 
an  unskilful  restoration,  have  altered  the  perspective  of  the 
great  nave,  and  ruined  the  interior  decorations.  But  the 


Cathedral  of  Puy. 


ROMAN   ARCHITECTURE.  147 

nobleness  of  its  five  naves,  divided  by  four  ranges  of  pillars, 
and  especially  the  marvellous  beauty  of  its  apse,  serve  to 
sustain  its  ancient  renown.  These  parts  of  the  structure,  in 
which  ornaments  of  sculptured  stone  are  set  off  by  the  rich 
deep  tint  of  the  bricks  forming  the  base  of  the  walls, 
seem  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  a  high  brick  tower,  pierced 
with  bays  either  round  or  slightly  narrowed  like  mitres. 
The  result  of  the  whole  is  a  pyramidal  arrangement  of  a 
surprising  effect,  at  once  majestic  and  light,  elegant  and 
strong.  St.  Sernin  was  consecrated  in  1096,  to  which  date 
we  must  assign  the  whole  apse.  As  to  the  tower,  it  was  not 
constructed  till  the  fourteenth  century,  but  with  the  evident 
intention  of  harmonising  with  the  general  style  of  the 
structure — a  proof  of  taste  the  like  of  which  it  is  difficult  to 
find  in  our  own  day. 

In  the  south  and  south-west  of  France,  about  the  twelfth 
century,  the  Romanesque  architecture,  at  first  so  severe  and 
simple,  began  to  admit  great  profusion  of  ornaments  and 
sculptures,  often  barbarian  but  always  ingeniously  grouped. 
This  gave  rise  to  the  more  ornate  Romanesque  style  which 
prevailed  south  of  the  Loire  to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

This  style  has  been  employed  in  all  sorts  of  edifices,  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  specimens  which  remain  having  been 
discovered  in  the  Prefect's  Court  at  Angers.  Here  are  to 
be  seen  great  bays,  with  plain  round  arches  sculptured,  and 
apparently  belonging  to  the  galleries  of  a  monastery. 

The  ornate  Romanesque  is  admirably  suited  for  the 
decoration  of  fa9ades.  That  of  Notre  Dame  de  Poitiers, 
for  example,  is  an  immense  bas-relief  which  commences  at 
the  pavement  and  ends  at  the  summit  of  the  frontage.  Two 
charming  round  towers  in  stone  flank  the  conical  roofs,  OD 

K  2 


148  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  pediment  of  which  Christ  is  sculptured  within  an 
aureole.  Over  the  choir  rises  a  beautiful  lantern  of  many 
storeys.  The  interior  is  more  ancient  than  the  facade,  and 
is  in  a  correctly  simple  style. 

Me'rime'e  considers  the  church  of  St.  Gilles  (1150-1220) 
as  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  ornate  Romanesque.  Conceived 
on  a  gigantic  plan,  abandoned  before  being  finished,  muti- 
lated at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  it  still  preserves  a  vast 
and  beautifully  lighted  crypt,  a  famous  staircase,  and  an 
admirable  portal,  covered  with  bassi-rilievi  statues  and  friezes, 
upon  which  are  depicted  a  flora  and  fauna  unknown  else- 
where. From  the  debris  of  this  facade  one  could  decorate 
a  dozen  sumptuous  edifices.  So  rich  indeed  is  it,  that  at 
first  sight  the  spectator  is  confused.  His  attention  is  called 
to  every  side  at  once,  and  not  knowing  where  to  rest  his 
glances,  he  loses  the  general  effect  altogether.  This  is  the 
inconvenience  of  all  ornate  styles,  of  which  St.  Gilles  unites 
all  the  main  features : — "  Y/iclth  of  base,  appearance  of 
solidity  which  merges  into  heaviness,  excessive  subdivision 
of  parts,  profusion  of  details,  having  evidently  for  their 
object  the  lightening  of  the  general  heavy  effect." 

Among  ornate  fagades  we  may  also  mention  that  of  St. 
Trophime  of  Aries.  Here  we  already  find  that  the  Gothic 
style,  born  as  it  were  in  the  Isle  of  France,  has  begun  to  corn- 
bine  with  the  Romanesque,  which  it  was  destined  to  supplant. 
St.  Trophime  bears  evident  marks  of  this  concord,  or  rather 
of  this  struggle.  As  we  advance  from  the  nave  to  the  choir 
and  the  apse,  the  Gothic  takes  the  lead  and  triumphs,  and  if 
it  respects  the  square  tower,  it  yet  invades  the  cloister  and 
decorates  one-half  of  it. 

This  cloister  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  that  can  be 
anywhere  seen.  Romanesque  or  Gothic,  its  arcades  are 


Notre  Dame  de  Poitiers. 


ROMAN   ARCHITECTURE. 


supported  by  double  colonnades  in  marble,  narrow,  round, 
and  octagonal,    alternating  with   pillars    ornamented  with 


Western  Door  of  the  Cathedral  of  Mans. 

Greek  statues  cut  from  the  same    block  of  stone.     The 
Romanesque  part  is  executed  in  much  the  better  style,  and 


15*  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

is  the  more  interesting  on  account  of  the  costumes  shown 
by  the  statues  and  bassi-rilievi. 

Many  beautiful  churches  in  the  middle  of  France  date 
from  the  time  when  the  rising  Gothic  grafted  itself  upon  the 
declining  Romanesque.  This  period  of  transition  is  perhaps 
best  illustrated  by  the  beautiful  cathedral  of  Mans. 

Upon  an  eminence  fortified  by  Roman  works,  at  the  foot 
of  which  roll  the  gentle  waters  of  the  Sarthe,  at  one  of 
the  extremities  of  the  old  town,  in  a  deserted  and  appa- 
rently antique  locality,  are  the  remains  of  this  cathedral. 
The  history  of  the  building  is  obscure,  but  it  is  probable 
that  the  Romanesque  church,  many  times  burnt  down, 
was  restored  in  Gothic  at  the  commencement  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  round  arches  of  the  arcade 
were  supplanted  by  pointed  arches  to  correspond  with  the 
new  choir,  which  is  wholly  the  purest  and  noblest  style 
of  Gothic.  Above  the  great  arches,  supported  by  pillars 
alternately  round  and  prismatic,  runs  a  narrow  gallery  of 
arcades  with  round  arches.  Eleven  chapels  disposed  in  a 
semi-circle  surround  the  choir,  separated  by  a  double  rank 
of  columns. 

The  nave  measures  188  feet  long  by  78  feet  broad,  and 
the  length  of  the  transepts  is  192  feet.  The  choir  and  aisles 
are  143  feet  long  by  104  feet  broad.  From  the  portal  to 
the  last  chapel  the  length  of  the  building  is  490  feet,  being 
40  feet  larger  than  the  cathedral  at  Amiens,  and  6J  mors 
than  that  of  Rheims. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GOTHIC   ART. 

IN  the  twelfth  century  one  of  the  Romanesque  schools  of 
architecture  sprang  into  popularity,  and  introduced  an  inno- 
vation which  became  the  principle  of  a  new  style  of  art.  A 
mere  artifice,  namely,  the  application  of  exterior  buttresses 
to  narrow  and  high  walls,  enabled  builders  to  carry  their 
arches  to  great  heights,  and  to  multiply  their  windows. 
Hence  the  Gothic  style,  which  is  essentially  nothing  else 
than  the  Romanesque  elevated,  and  with  the  addition  of 
external  supports.  The  buttress — a  sort  of  permanent 
scaffolding — a  superfluity,  the  imperfection  of  which  the 
subtlest  art  can  hardly  disguise,  is  the  most  prominent 
feature  of  Gothic.  A  secondary  feature  is  the  employment 
of  the  pointed  arch  which,  previously  known  to  Roman 
architects,  supplanted  the  round  arch.  This,  like  the  but- 
tress, is  co-relative  and  necessary  to  the  increased  eleva- 
tion of  the  structure.  Finally,  all  the  modifications  which 
the  Gothic  style  introduced  have  for  their  generating 
principle  that  mystic  love  which  aspires  to  heaven,  and 
finds  its  symbol  in  the  singular  loftiness  of  pillars  and 
vaults. 

It  was  long  supposed  that  the  Gothic  took  from  the  East 
the  form  of  its  pointed  bays,  and  the  lightness  of  its  orna- 
mentation. 

Without  denying  that  there  are  certain  resemblances  in 
this  respect,  there  can  at  the  same  time  be  no  doubt  that 


154  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

we  must  look  to  the  West,  and  among  ourselves,  for  the 
origin  and  parentage  of  Gothic.  Gothic  may  be  described 
as  an  entirely  French  architecture,  the  honour  01  origina- 
ting which  is  divided  between  Rheims,  Amiens,  and  Paris. 
In  the  basin  of  the  Oise.  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century, 
churches  were  to  be  found  whose  distinguishing  charac- 
teristic was  Gothic.  Half -a -century  sufficed  to  make  all 
the  Romanesque  schools  disappear,  and  in  the  thirteenth 
century  the  Gothic  penetrated  even  to  Germany  and  Italy. 

The  cathedral  of  Laon  (1114 — 1154)  appears  to  be  the 
most  ancient  of  the  Gothic  churches.  Next,  in  order  of 
time,  comes  Noyon,  the  ancient  church  of  St.  Denis  (1130 
— 1134)  j  and  the  interior  portion  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris 
(1163),  which  preceded  by  a  few  years  the  churches  at 
Bayeux,  Sens,  and  Langres.  The  cathedral  of  Paris  is  too 
well  known  for  us  to  dwell  upon  the  branches  of  its  solid 
portal,  the  bold  projection  of  its  horizontal  lines,  its  sober 
and  majestic  galleries,  and  its  sombre  buttresses  which 
support  the  towers,  and  seem  directly  to  rest  on  the  soil 
itself. 

The  cathedral  at  Amiens  belongs  to  the  succeeding 
period  (1220).  Its  fagade  and  spire,  rising  respectively  to 
the  height  of  165  and  440  feet,  would,  without  doubt,  have 
exceeded  those  dimensions  if  the  original  plan  had  not  been 
modified  after  the  death  of  the  architect,  its  designer.  Its 
larger  vaults  rise  nearly  140  feet,  and  cover  an  expanse  of 
45  feet,  an  achievement  that  is  all  the  more  astonishing, 
considering  that  the  exterior  walls  do  not  exist,  so  to  speak, 
but  are  replaced  by  piers  or  buttresses,  between  which 
are  chapels.  "  Take,"  says  M.  Reynaud,  "  the  columns  of 
the  central  nave  at  Amiens,  and  it  will  be  found  that  their 
elevation  is  equal  to  sixty-six  times  their  diameter.  On  the 


GOTHIC  ART.  155 

other  hand,  the  supports  of  the  baths  of  Caracalla,  and  of  the 
Temple  of  Peace,  are  only  ten  times  that  of  their  diameter ; 
and  at  St.  Etienne  of  Caen,  the  loftiest  of  the  Roman 
esque  churches,  the  pillars  are  only  thirty-three  times  the 
height  of  their  diameter.  The  height  of  the  nave  oi 
Amiens  is  three  times  that  of  its  width." 

The  entire  central  length  (nave  and  choir)  is  con- 
sidered not  only  the  most  beautiful  part  of  the  church,  but 
a  masterpiece  of  art.  It  comprises  altogether  five  naves 
sustained  by  elegant  circular  pillars,  furnished  with  engaged 
columns.  Two  lines  of  similar  supports  divide  the  tran- 
septs into  three  naves.  The  coup  d'ceil  is  magical,  and  the 
ensemble  marvellous,  lightness  and  strength  being  blended 
into  perfect  harmony.  But  however  admirable  the  cathedral 
at  Amiens  is  for  unity  of  conception,  it  is  not  equal 
in  originality  to  the  church  of  Chartres.  Six  centuries, 
counting  from  the  twelfth  century,  have  been  devoted 
to  the  completion  and  ornamentation  of  this  structure. 
By  rare  good  fortune  the  building  betrays  no  offensive 
disparities  in  style  or  tone,  and  yet  retains  all  the  graces 
of  variety.  Its  narrow  and  high  faQade  is  surmounted  by 
two  unequal  spires — one  sober  and  majestic,  the  other  of 
astonishing  freshness  and  considerable  height.  The  latter 
belongs  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and  all  florid  as  it  is,  it 
pleases  less  than  the  first,  of  which  the  bare  spire  rises  in 
a  single  unbroken  line  towards  heaven.  Its  two  lateral 
porches  are  as  ornate  as  the  portal  is  simple.  The  most 
beautiful  is  that  on  the  north.  Raised  on  a  basement  oi 
seven  steps,  it  presents  three  grand  arcades  surmounted  by 
gables,  and  containing  piers  and  columns  ornamented  with 
a  number  of  statues  and  bassi-rilievi.  As  to  the  vaults, 
they  also  are  richly  furnished  with  ornaments.  The  sidec 


156  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

are  covered  with  arcades.  Above  the  porch,  in  retreat, 
rises  the  upper  part  of  the  portal,  flanked  by  two  small 
octagonal  turrets,  and  surrounded  by  a  triangular  gable  or- 
namented  with  a  figure  of  the  Virgin,  and  of  which  the 
base  is  supported  upon  a  fine  gallery. 

There  is  not  in  France  a  church  so  rich  in  sculptures. 
Calculating  only  the  exterior,  there  are  to  be  counted  1,800 
figures  without  including  arabesques,  gargoiles,  corbels,  masks, 
and  consols.  These  stone  figures  narrate,  as  in  an  allegori- 
cal poem,  the  history  of  this  world  and  the  next.  Add  to 
the  statues  the  thousand  figures  that  shine  in  the  coloured 
glass,  and  the  beautiful  groups  which  adorn  the  palings  ol 
the  choir,  and  we  can  comprehend  why  the  cathedral  of 
Chartres  appeals  more  to  the  mind  than  its  rivals,  and  why 
it  seems  animated  with  a  mysterious  life. 

The  most  ancient  part  of  the  building  is  the  crypt, 
where  are  some  columns  in  the  antique  style.  The  fa9ade 
dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century,  but  the 
choir  was  added  in  1260.  This  great  building  has  a  total 
length  of  340  feet,  and  its  other  dimensions  are  : — length  of 
transept,  204  feet;  height  of  vaults,  no  feet;  total  width, 
no  feet ;  width  of  the  fagade,  102  feet ;  height  of  the  old 
tower,  366  feet ;  and  of  the  ornamented  one,  396  feet. 

Situated  upon  the  highest  part  of  the  town,  St.  Etienne 
of  Bourges  towers  afar  over  the  vast  plain  of  Berry.  Its 
immense  front,  162  feet  wide,  is  pierced  by  five  portals 
enriched  by  a  multitude  of  excellent  figures.  Two  towers 
which  crown  it  are  of  later  date  than  the  body  of  the 
church,  and  are  of  unequal  height  and  mediocre  beauty. 
Upon  the  northern  one  the  sixteenth  century  has  lavished 
ornaments,  mouldings,  bell-turrets,  and  pinnacles;  but  the 
eye  loses  itself  amidst  this  confused  decoration,  and  cannot 


Cathedral  of  Chartres. 


GOTHIC   ART.  159 

seize  the  solid  lines,  which  are  the  chief  characteristic  ot 
such  important  structures.  Nevertheless,  the  renown  of 
the  edifice  is  fully  justified  by  its  portals,  its  fine  majestic 
naves  supported  upon  sixty  pillars,  its  ancient  coloured 
glass  in  beautiful  preservation,  its  lateral  gates,  and  its  lines 
of  short  columns,  which  sustain  the  semi -circular  crypt. 

With  the  exception  of  the  lateral  porches,  no  part  of 
it  is  particularly  attached  to  the  Gothic  style.  We  find 
primitive  traces  of  the  Gothic  style  in  the  crypt  and  choir ; 
more  ornate  traces  of  it  in  the  nave,  and  still  more  of  it 
in  the  portal ;  but  on  the  northern  tower  we  find  it  on  the 
decline. 

Nothing  remains  to  us  of  the  various  edifices  raised,  in 
the  fifth  and  ninth  centuries,  upon  the  site  of  the  cathedral 
of  Rheims.  Of  the  cathedral  itself,  Flodoard  the  historian 
tells  us  that  the  structure  raised  by  Charlemagne  was  one 
of  the  most  sumptuous  in  France.  Completely  destroyed 
by  fire  in  1210,  it  was  rebuilt  from  the  designs  of  the 
famous  architect  Robert  de  Coucy,  and  in  the  short 
space  of  three  years  the  former  building  was  replaced  by 
another  500  feet  long,  101  feet  wide,  and  120  feet  high — 
a  building  which  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in 
France  for  its  unity  of  aspect  and  harmony  of  proportion. 
It  is  formed  upon  the  plan  of  the  Latin  cross,  and  owing 
to  the  transept  being  very  near  the  apse,  the  choir  pro- 
jects over  three  bays  of  the  nave.  This  was  done  by  the 
architect  to  enlarge  the  perspective  and  vary  the  unifor- 
mity of  the  walls.  In  order  to  increase  the  impression  of 
the  length  of  the  building,  he  suppressed  everything  that 
might  arrest  the  eye  upon  the  walls.  He  wished  the  spec- 
tator to  embrace  at  a  single  coup  d'a'il  the  ranges  of  column^ 
the  vault,  and  the  apse,  which,  when  looked  at,  seemed  to 


i6o 


MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 


recede  away  into  distance.      A  great  number  of  windows, 
and   four   rose -windows,   which   for    the    most    part    still 


m 


Cathedral  of  Bourges. 

retain    the    glass   of   the   thirteenth    century,    threw   upon 
this  long  avenue  all  the  colours  of  the  prism,  beautifully 


GOTHIC   ART. 


161 


deepening  into  a  purple  light  which  resembles  that  of  the 
setting  sun. 


iS 

The  Cathedral  of  Rheims. 

Four  columns  bear  upon  their  capitals  ornamented  with 
poun  curved  volutes,  a  group  of  colonettes,  which  sustain 
the  nerves  of  the  vault.  These  elegant  groups,  cut  vertically, 

L 


l62  MARVELS    OF   ANCHITECTURE. 

are  the   simple  and  noble   horizontal   lines  of  this  great 
edifice. 

Like  the  preceding  church,  the  height  of  the  facade  01 
the  cathedral  of  Rheims  is  much  greater  than  its  width,  and 
its  horizontal  divisions  disappear  under  the  ornaments  with 
which  it  is  surcharged.  Its  towers  rise  to  more  than  270 
feet,  and  were  intended  to  carry  spires. 

The  three  portals  surmounted  by  narrow  gates  are  high 
and  deep,  while  the  capitals  support  great  caryatides.  Above 
the  great  portal,  between  the  edicules  and  the  double  bays, 
spreads  out  above  a  rich  arcade  a  magnificent  rose-window 
unhappily  obstructed  in  its  lower  part  by  the  flowered  point 
of  the  porch. 

Statues  of  kings  shelter  themselves  under  the  pinnacles 
of  a  long  gallery,  which  rises  above  the  roof  of  the  great 
nave.  All  this  superposition  of  pointed  angles,  which  may 
be  said  to  have  inaugurated  the  exaggerations  of  the  per- 
pendicular style,  imparts  to  the  fagade  of  Rheims  an 
aerial  lightness,  a  mystical  elegance,  a  sort  of  extreme 
beauty,  which  we  could  not  attempt  to  increase  without 
danger. 

The  cathedral  of  Strasbourg,  on  the  other  hand,  does 
not  present  this  unity  of  aspect ;  but  like  those  of  Chartres, 
Paris,  and  Bruges,  it  partakes  of  those  different  charms  which 
are  the  peculiar  privilege  of  edifices  that'  have  been  slowly 
built,  and  in  which  are  to  be  found  the  architectural  traces 
of  many  ages.  The  austere  nakedness  of  its  crypt,  and  the 
massive  circle  of  columns  that  enclose  its  choir,  contrast  with 
the  ingeniously  carved  pillars  of  the  nave,  and  with  a  choir 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  a  baptistry  which  is  like  a  piece 
of  goldsmith's  work  executed  in  stone.  That  portion  of  the 
ouilding  which  is  near  the  facade  much  surpasses  in  height 


he  Cathedral  of  Strasbourg. 


GOTHIC   ART.  1 65 

the  rest  of  the  church,  and  forms  a  superb  vestibule  into 
which  the  great  western  rose-window  throws  all  its  fires  and 
rich  colours. 

The  first  stone  of  the  portal  was  laid  in  1277,  the  con- 
struction of  the  edifice  being  undertaken  by  Erwin,  a 
celebrated  architect  born  at  Steinbach.  His  son  John,  and 
his  daughter  Sabina,  who  carved  many  statues  at  the 
southern  portal,  should  also  be  remembered.  Their 
names,  as  well  as  that  of  John  Hultz,  who  finished  the 
spire  in  1439,  are  among  the  number  of  those  whom 
time  respects. 

The  faQade  is  in  complete  disproportion  to  the  church. 
Taken  in  itself,  it  is  a  work  of  genius.  As  high  as  the 
towers  of  Notre  Dame,  it  presents  three  divisions  in  height 
and  three  in  width.  Above  the  three  gates  with  deep 
carvings  is  the  rose,  as  in  an  enormous  niche.  The  third 
storey  is  illuminated  by  two  beautiful  windows.  Equestrian 
statues  of  Clovis,  Dagobert,  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  and 
Louis  XIV.,  and  depictions  of  scenes  of  revelry,  and  multi- 
tudes of  persons  in  various  attitudes,  cover  the  buttresses, 
the  frieze,  and  the  archivolts. 

It  is  from  the  platform  terminating  the  third  stage  on 
the  left  that  there  rises  the  famous  tower  which  bears  the 
spire — a  unique  tower,  a  marvel  of  lightness  and  boldness, 
open  to  the  light  throughout  its  whole  length,  flanked  with 
four  turrets  also  in  open  work,  and  through  which  spiral 
stairs  ascend  to  the  top. 

The  spire  forms  an  octagonal  pyramid,  which  looks 
as  though  it  were  composed  of  fragile  lace-work.  It  bears 
a  lantern  surmounted  by  a  crown,  and  a  flower  bearing 
a  cross.  In  these  giddy  heights  Goethe  once  remained 
for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  under  the  crown  itself,  upon  a 


1 66  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

platform  three  feet  square,  without  even  the  support  of  a 
hand-rail. 

The  building  of  this  tower  carried  the  fame  of  the  masons 
of  Strasbourg  into  all  lands.  It  is  said  that  the  Duke  of 
Milan,  in  1481,  asked  the  magistrates  of  Strasbourg  for  a 
man  capable  of  superintending  the  construction  of  the  cupola 
of  Milan.  Vienna,  Cologne,  and  Fribourg,  among  others, 
were  built  by  the  Strasbourg  masons.  But  none  of  these 
surpassed  their  model  in  height  or  boldness.  The  spire  of 
Strasbourg  remains  the  highest  of  all  known  edifices,  with 
the  exception  of  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  which  are  9  feet 
higher.  It  reaches  a  height  of  461  feet;  and  after  it  in 
their  order  of  height,  but  from  30  to  60  feet  less  in  height, 
come  the  spires  of  Amiens,  Fribourg,  Vienna,  and  Chartres. 

Space  would  fail  us  were  we  to  attempt  to  describe  all 
the  beautiful  churches  which  the  Gothic  style  in  its  birth  and 
prodigal  youth  has  bequeathed  to  us.  Notre  Dame  at  Paris 
(a  complete  edifice),  the  cathedrals  of  Laon,  Noyon,  and 
Soissons,  have  only  been  incidently  cited  as  examples.  The 
astonishing  cupola  and  spires  of  Coutances,  the  giant  choirs 
of  Beauvais  and  Cologne,  might  also  have  been  mentioned 
as  inimitable  specimens  of  this  class  of  religious  edifices. 
But  we  have  confined  ourselves  to  some  of  the  most  cele- 
brated specimens,  well  knowing  that  to  repeat  necessarily 
curtailed  descriptions  would  become  monotonous  to  the 
reader.  What  we  have  striven  to  do  has  been  to  give  at 
least  some  faint  idea  of  the  construction  and  decoration 
adopted  by  the  great  unknown  architects  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  It  now  only  remains  to  us  to  glance  at  the  works 
of  the  two  succeeding  centuries,  in  the  architecture  of  which 
frivolity  and  exaggeration  strove  their  best  to  destroy  nobility 
and  grandeur. 


GOTHIC   ART.  167 


3.    THE   FLORID  STYLE — RENAISSANCE    GOTHIC. 

From  1250  to  1380  there  prevailed  a  charming  and  striking 
style,  which  has  been  called  the  flamboyant  or  florid.  More 
walls  having  openings  supported  by  narrow  arches,  more 
capitals  with  wreaths  of  foliage,  imitated  direct  from  nature, 
more  columns  and  high  pillars  ornamented  with  mouldings, 
were  introduced,  and  yet  no  evil  element  marred  the  elegance 
of  the  style.  Slender  and  delicate,  without  being  emascu- 
late, the  florid  style  did  not  disfigure  the  thirteenth  century 
churches  which  it  enriched  and  adorned.  Traces  of  this 
style  are  everywhere  to  be  found  in  the  lateral  naves,  the 
apses,  and  the  exterior  bays  ;  for  it  is  rare  not  to  find  the 
three  epochs  of  the  Gothic  represented  in  a  religious  edifice 
of  any  importance — the  first  by  the  general  mass  and  the 
nave  ;  the  second  by  the  vaults  and  the  ornaments  ;  and  the 
third  by  the  stalls,  the  jubes,  and  the  bell-towers.  Among 
the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  this  style  are  the  aisles  of 
the  choir  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  the  facade  of  Bayeux,  the 
cathedral  of  Metz,  and  St.  Ouen  of  Rouen. 

Although  the  nave  of  St.  Ouen  was  not  completed  till 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  although  its  portal,  built  in  our 
own  times,  does  not  realise  in  all  its  beauty  the  plans  of 
the  Gothic  architect,  still  it  presents  all  the  features  of  the 
fourteenth.  The  whole  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  choir 
and  transept  was  finished  in  twenty-one  years,  the  period 
extending  from  1318  to  133 9.  In  these  may  be  admired 
great  purity  of  lines  and  elevation,  the  effect  of  which  is 
enhanced  by  the  lightness  of  the  supports.  The  great  nave, 
of  a  considerable  length  and  of  great  simplicity,  makes  the 
perspective  of  the  choir  recede  indefinitely.  There  are 


1 68  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

higher  vaults  than  are  to  be  found  in  this  church,  but  fevr 
more  beautiful. 

In  order  to  enjoy  the  exterior  beauties  of  St.  Ouen, 
the  visitor  must  walk  round  the  right  flank  of  its  walls,  pro- 
fusely pierced  with  windows,  and  terminated  by  the  symme- 
trical forest  of  lesser  arches  which  support  the  parent  vault ; 
stand  in  contemplation  before  the  portal  of  the  transept, 
which  is  equal  to  the  side  doors  of  Notre  Dame ;  and  from 
the  bottom  of  a  small  garden  which  surrounds  the  apses, 
enjoy  the  harmonious  aspect  of  twelve  chapels  with  pyra- 
midical  roofs,  joined  to  the  majestic  apse,  which  serves 
as  a  pedestal  for  the  great  central  tower.  This  tower  is 
octagonal  in  shape,  upon  a  square  base,  flanked  by  four 
charming  detached  turrets,  terminated  by  an  open  crown. 
It  is  266  feet  high,  but  measurements  in  this  instance  lose 
their  value,  as  everything  lies  in  the  excellent  proportions 
which  invest  the  tower  of  St.  Ouen  with  something  of  the 
ideal  and  absolutely  beautiful.  The  visitor  mounts  it  by 
means  of  narrow  stairs  through  obscure  passages,  and  when 
he  gains  the  summit  he  can  behold  the  noble  lines  of  the 
roof. 

If  the  justly-renowned  beauties  of  what  we  have  been 
describing  somewhat  throw  into  the  shade  the  merits  of  St. 
Etienne  de  Metz,  it  is  because  they  are  not  brought  out  in 
proper  relief  by  unity  of  composition.  The  Louis  XV. 
fa9ade,  the  florid  chapels,  choir,  and  nave,  are  portions  of 
the  building  not  sufficiently  harmoniously  united;  but 
many  of  its  beauties  are  worthy  of  the  first  rank.  Its 
nave  is  equal  in  height  to  that  of  Amiens,  and  its  glass  panes 
present  quite  a  fairy  aspect.  There  are  three  rows  of  win- 
dows :  the  first  in  the  collateral  spaces,  and  relatively  low ; 
and  the  two  others  in  the  nave,  separated  by  a  species  of 


Interior  of  St.  Etienne  de  Metz  at  Paris. 


GOTHIC   ART.  171 

frieze.  The  higher  bays  are  the  largest,  the  intermediate 
ones  being  grouped  four  and  four  in  each  triforium.  Noi 
must  the  large  openings  which  lighten  the  transept,  and  the 
great  rose  over  the  portal,  be  forgotten.  The  choir,  which  is 
raised  upon  steps,  belongs  to  the  decadent  Gothic  period. 

After  the  florid  Gothic  comes  the  flamboyant,  which 
under  the  pretext  of  slenderness  and  grace,  strips  the  forms 
and  proportions  of  some  of  the  chief  parts  of  this  species  of 
architecture  of  its  ornaments.  It  dispenses  with  the  hori- 
zontal lines,  which  form  the  windows  of  the  great  nave  into 
two  storeys,  fills  up  the  bays  of  the  irregular  compartments, 
softens  down  the  angles  of  the  pillars,  or  sharpens  the  bevel- 
ing of  the  mouldings,  gives  even  to  the  most  massive  sup- 
ports only  a  fleeting  form  in  which  the  shadows  cannot  fix 
themselves,  and  changes  the  flowers  of  the  pinnacles  into 
capricious  volutes.  It  reserves  all  its  riches  for  the  acces- 
sory and  the  exterior  decorations— the  stalls,  the  pulpits,  the 
crowns  of  the  arches,  the  crowning  friezes,  the  pinnacles  of 
the  piers,  the  jubes,  and  the  bell-towers.  Visible  general 
decadence  corresponds  with  great  progress  in  details. 

Among  the  churches^  not  very  numerous,  which  have 
been  completely  built  in  the  flamboyant  style,  may  be  men- 
tioned St.  Wulfrand  d'AbbeVille,  Notre  Dame  de  CISry 
sur  Loire,  St.  Ricquier  de  Corbie,  and  the  cathedrals  of 
Nantes  and  of  Orleans.  The  convex  fagade  of  St.  Maclou 
at  Rouen  is,  however,  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  specimen 
of  this  style. 

Even  with  this  order  the  Gothic  career  does  not  termi- 
nate, and  in  France  at  least  it  is  prolonged  by  the  Renais- 
sance, which  seems  to  impart  a  new  life  into  this  moribund 
style.  Without  doubt  the  Renaissance  is  a  return  towards 
the  antique,  but  it  is  also  a  return  towards  purely  civil  life. 


172  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

If  it  changes  the  plan  of  palaces  and  houses,  it  preserves 
that  of  the  churches.  It  grafts  its  pilasters,  its  columns,  and 
its  Greek  frontals  upon  the  pointed  vaults,  bent  arches,  and 
pendent  crowns.  This  period  of  transition  must  not  be  dis- 
dained, and  although  the  style  may  be  disapproved,  it  must 
not  be  altogether  condemned. 

Is  not,  for  instance,  the  church  of  St.  Etienne  du  Mont 
at  Paris  a  structure  full  of  fantasy  and  beauty  ?  or  can  there 
be  found  many  churches  comparable  to  St.  Eustache  at  Paris, 
built  in  the  sixteenth  century  ? 

The  apse  of  St.  Eustache  still  preserves  the  pointed 
arch,  while  the  Corinthian  colonettes,  combined  with  prism- 
shaped  pillars,  have  neither  bases  nor  capitals.  Among  the 
souvenirs  of  the  flamboyant  Gothic  we  notice  the  bold 
pendant — a  vast  crown  supported  by  two  angels  above  the 
sanctuary. 

3.    MILITARY   AND    CIVIL    STRUCTURES   OF   THE   MIDDLE 
AGES. 

Churches  and  fortresses  are  the  two  signs  of  the  Middle 
Ages — two  forces  often  found  in  rivalry,  but  oftener  in 
alliance  ;  the  one  the  consolation  of  souls  alternately  violent 
and  despairing,  the  other  the  guardian  of  industrious  cities 
or  the  defence  of  idle  and  rapacious  barons.  Military  archi- 
tecture, as  may  be  supposed,  will  not  by  any  means  offer  us 
the  same  variety  and  interest  as  the  religious  edifices ;  but 
even  these  unadorned  masses  have  their  beauty.  Their 
ancient  defences  of  towers — round,  square,  and  pointed — 
their  battlements  and  macchicolations,  at  the  present  day  in 
ruins,  show  their  outlines  well  against  the  sky,  and  represent 
upon  the  hills  which  they  overlook  that  mural  crown  which 
(he  ancient  sculptors  gave  to  Cybele. 


GOTHIC   ART.  175 

Above  Carcassonne,  for  example,  on  a  sterile  hill,  under 
an  ardent  sun  that  gilds  the  stones,  is  to  be  seen  a  double 
enclosure  of  walls  flanked  with  towers.  A  strong  castle  and 
beautiful  church  occupy  the  highest  point  of  the  site.  We 
can  follow  the  circular  way  between  the  double  enclosure,  and 
mount  to  the  summit  by  a  tortuous  path.  It  is  on  the  north, 
and  in  the  interior  enclosure,  that  are  to  be  seen  the  oldest 
fortifications,  attributed  for  a  long  time  to  the  Romans,  but 
which  were  raised  by  the  Visigoths,  of  whom  Carcassonne 
was  the  last  refuge.  The  visitor  admires  the  fine  solid  towers 
of  these  ruins,  built  of  alternate  layers  of  brick  and  rubble, 
for  they  have  a  Roman  attraction  quite  distinct  from  antique 
architecture.  We  have  hardly  any  record  respecting  Car- 
cassonne beyond  the  twelfth  century.  The  twin  windows  of 
the  citadel  indicate  that  epoch.  Destroyed  by  assault,  and 
ruined,  in  1209  and  1240,  the  Visigothic  enclosure  part  was 
rebuilt  by  St.  Louis  and  Philippe  the  Hardy,  and  surrounded 
by  a  second  line  of  defences,  which,  like  the  inner  one,  is  a 
model  of  construction.  We  may  mention  specially  a  round 
tower  called  the  Bishop,  and  also  some  other  towers  which 
form  detached  forts  on  the  side  where  the  fortress  was  most 
accessible. 

This  formidable  body  of  defences,  the  most  complete 
that  has  been  left  to  us  from  the  Middle  Ages,  will  not,  it  is 
gratifying  to  think,  perish  like  so  many  other  interesting 
remains.  Since  1855  the  Committee  of  Historic  Monuments 
have  undertaken  its  restoration. 

Another  interesting  stronghold,  still  well  preserved,  is  that 
of  Aigues-Mortes,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  rectangle.  Cer- 
tain towers,  semi-circular  on  the  outside  and  square  within, 
so  as  to  make  the  interior  projection  as  little  as  possible, 
rise  above  the  parapet.  The  chief  gates  opened  between 


176  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

two  towers,  the  interval  between  these  being  occupied  by 
a  blind-covered  chamber  to  protect  those  who  worked 
the  portcullises.  Between  the  two  portcullises  there  was  a 
space  or  trough  in  the  vault  through  which  projectiles  could 
be  poured  upon  the  enemy,  who  could,  as  it  were,  be 
enclosed  in  a  species  of  cage.  This  structure  bears  the 
character  of  the  era  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  is  also 
a  work  of  Philippe  the  Hardy. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  French  capital,  however,  have  no 
need  to  travel  more  than  a  short  distance  in  order  to  get  an 
idea  of  the  fortifications  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Provins,  about 
three  hours'  journey  from  Paris,  furnishes  a  good-enough 
example  of  such  ruins.  The  walls  of  the  higher  part  of  this 
fortress  were  raised  for  the  defence  of  an  abrupt  promontory, 
narrow  but  long,  which  runs  from  the  plateaus  of  La  Brie 
into  an  oval  valley,  where  modest  streams  unite  to 
pour  their  waters  into  the  Seine.  Upon  the  north  flank 
of  the  hill  the  ruins  rise  up  solidly  in  a  picturesque  region, 
and  seem  to  menace  with  their  towers  all  who  repose 
within  their  shadow.  They  run  from  the  north  to  the 
south-west,  then  tending  to  the  south  they  descend 
towards  what  formed  the  lower  town  of  the  enclosure. 
They  are  strongest  at  the  weakest  points  of  the  position. 
Instead  of  opposing  to  assailants  a  single  front  in  a  straight 
line,  they  present  at  the  narrow  part  of  the  plain  the  point 
of  a  formidable  angle,  armed  with  a  strong  cylindrical 
tower.  A  fosse,  more  than  100  feet  long  by  32  deep, 
protected  by  a  glacis,  guards  the  foot  of  the  walls.  The 
high  part  of  the  enclosure,  like  all  skilfully  devised  feudal 
castles,  was  defended  and  cut  off  from  the  lower  part  by  a 
suite  of  walls  and  forts  erected  upon  the  escarpments.  Nor 
was  this  all,  The  palace  of  the  counts,  together  with  the 


GOTHIC   ART.  177 

church  and  its  cloister  were  separated  from  the  rest  of  the 
citadel  and  occupied  the  point  of  the  promontory.  Again, 
a  very  strong  tower  connected  with  the  walls,  and  serving  the 
double  purpose  of  a  prison  and  a  means  of  defence,  rose  at 
some  325  feet  distance  from  the  palace.  This  tower  is 
raised  upon  a  square  sub-basement,  is  octagonal  in  shape, 
and  is  flanked  by  four  little  turrets.  It  has  for  a  long  time 
been  known  as  the  Tower  of  Caesar ;  but  although  we  can- 
not easily  determine  its  date,  it  is  not  improbable  that  it 
was  anterior  to  the  twelfth  century. 

As  far,  however,  as  a  pure  donjon  is  concerned  there 
is  scarcely  anything  comparable  to  Coucy,  in  which  fortress 
everything  is  on  a  colossal  scale.  The  steps  of  the  stairs, 
the  embrasures,  the  seats,  and  all  the  details  seem  to  have 
been  made  for  men  of  more  than  ordinary  size.  The 
circular  donjon,  100  feet  wide  and  208  high,  rises  between 
four  towers,  at  the  angles  of  a  quadrilateral  measuring  58 
feet  by  113.  Originally  it  was  divided  by  three  vaults,  now 
sunk  in,  into  three  great  parts,  and  crowned  with  a  cornice 
ornamented  with  four  pinnacles.  On  the  ground-floor  the 
hall  was  vaulted  by  means  of  twelve  demi-arches.  No 
less  than  1,200  or  1,500  men  might  be  accommodated  in  a 
time  of  need  in  the  upper  rotunda. 

Built  by  Enguerrand  III.,  about  1230,  the  castle  of 
Coucy,  one  of  the  most  imposing  marvels  of  the  feudal 
epoch,  overlooks  a  rich  valley  between  Noyon  and  Chauny. 
It  has  no  longer  to  fear  the  depredations  of  the  inhabitants, 
who  used  to  remove  its  stones,  as  it  has  now  become  the 
property  of  the  state.  Since  1856,  the  cracks  in  the  great 
donjon  have  been  repaired,  which  were  caused  by  the 
springing  of  a  mine  in  the  seventeenth  century,  by  order  of 
Mazarin 

M 


178  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

It  remains  now  for  us  briefly  to  glance  at  the  civil 
Gothic  buildings  raised  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  France  possesses  a  certain  number,  among  others 
the  beautiful  Palace  of  Justice  at  Rouen.  But  they  abound 
especially  in  Belgium,  a  country  of  municipal  and  industrial 


Ruins  of  Coucv. 

life,  where  devotion  to  human  interests  is  clothed  with 
a  pomp  equal  to  that  which  accompanies  the  worship  of 
the  Divinity. 

Constructed  in  the  middle  ot  the  fifteenth  century,  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  of  Louvain  seems  a  Gothic  shrine,  raised  in 
stone  upon  gigantic  proportions.  The  sculpture,  delicate 
and  fine,  resembles  miniature  work,  and  the  statues  are  so 


GOTHIC    ART.  I7<) 

numerous  that  hours  are  not  sufficient  to  count  those  on  a 
single  side. 

The  fagade  presents  three  storeys  surrounded  by  a  gallery, 
and  a  covering  in  which  are  pierced  three  storeys  of  dormer- 
windows.  It  is  composed  of  three  orders  above  a  basement 
in  stylobate.  Ten  Gothic  windows,  surmounted  by  counter- 
curves,  are  separated  by  elegant  buttresses.  Turrets  orna- 
ment the  three  galleries  resting  at  the  angles. 

The  Hotel  de  Ville,  again,  at  Brussels,  is  considerable 
for  its  elevation  and  its  extent.  Constructed  in  the  space 
of  twenty-one  years — namely,  between  1401  and  1422 — it  is 
in  the  same  style  in  all  its  parts,  and  the  houses  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood are  of  the  same  epoch.  Decorations  and  fillets 
of  gold  ornament  this  hotel.  Its  fagade,  which  presents  a 
gallery  of  seventeen  arcades  supporting  a  species  of  balcony, 
is  pierced  with  twenty  windows  upon  each  storey ;  and  a 
balustrade  forms  the  crown  as  at  Louvain.  As  in  the  former 
instance,  the  roof  is  decorated  with  ranges  of  dormer 
windows.  The  tower  of  the  belfry  is  octagonal,  and  en- 
tirely composed  of  open  work.  It  is  much  admired  for  its 
elegance  and  boldness. 

After  Louvain  and  Brussels,  Ypres,  with  its  low  fagade 
surcharged  with  colonnettes,  and  surrounded  with  open-work, 
and  Gand,  the  Hotel  de  Ville  of  which  combines  Gothic 
ornaments  with  the  proportions  and  classic  columns  of  the 
Renaissance,  may  equally  be  admitted  to  the  third  rank  of 
buildings  of  the  kind  we  have  described. 


CHAPTER  XII 

ITALIAN      RENAISSANCE. 

BARBARISM  had  but  a  short  reign  in  Italy,  and  a  Renais- 
sance followed  close  upon  the  wretched  innovations  of  the 
tenth  century.  This  re-awakening  of  true  art,  this  day-spring 
of  hope  and  of  artistic  life  which  manifested  itself  in  the 
first  years  of  the  eleventh  century,  had,  as  we  have  seen, 
already  flourished  in  France ;  and  it  is  to  that  century 
that  the  West  owes  the  beauties  of  Romanesque  art. 
More  rapid  still,  and  more  fruitful,  was  this  revival  among  the 
Italians,  a  people  who  had  only  to  excavate  their  ruins  in 
order  to  procure  models  of  antiquity — a  revival  which  was 
accelerated  in  consequence  of  the  rivalry  between  Pisa, 
Florence,  Sienna,  Genoa,  and  Venice ;  and  which  resulted 
in  the  production  of  architectural  wonders  in  which  Byzan- 
tine taste  and  Latin  traditions  formed  a  combination,  at 
once  full  of  power  and  grace.  As  supports  to  the  cupolas,  to 
the  walls  of  the  rotundas,  and  to  the  naves,  the  Italian 
architects  introduced  forests  of  colonnettes,  and  ranges  of 
small  arches  which  delighted  the  eye  and  gave  grandeur 
to  the  edifice. 

Pisa  contains  the  model  of  the  style  which  we  may  call 
the  Italian  Romanesque.  Upon  a  large  open  space  stand 
four  famous  structures — namely  the  Cathedral,  the  Baptistry, 
the  Leaning  Tower,  and  the  simple  and  noble  Cloister  of 
Campo  Santo.  These  beautiful  buildings  form  a  magnificent 
spectacle,  rendered  somewhat  sad,  it  is  true  by  the  thought 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  l8l 

of  the  deep  decline  of  Pisa,  but  a  spectacle  which  assumes 
a  magic  power  over  the  spectator,  who  is  transported  by 
thoughts  of  the  time  when  Pisa,  victorious  over  the  Sara- 
cens, enriched  herself  with  a  multitude  of  capitals,  bases, 
and  antique  columns,  and  raised  the  Cathedral  at  once  to 
celebrate  her  triumphs  and  to  make  use  of  her  spoils.  It 
was  in  1083  that  the  Byzantine  architect  Buschetto  was 
commanded  to  construct  the  Cathedral,  in  which  the 
ceilings,  the  vaults,  the  architraves,  the  arcades,  the  cupola, 
and  the  Latin  cross  combined  to  express  an  original  idea, 
and  create  a  new  architectural  form.  This  noble  structure 
suggests  the  antique  without  its  bareness,  the  Byzantine 
without  its  heaviness,  and  the  Romanesque  with  all  the 
life  and  fervour  which  it  displayed  in  the  West 

Five  storeys  of  arcades  cover  the  fa9ade  of  the  Cathedral 
with  their  superposed  porticoes.  "  All  the  antique  forms 
are  again  reproduced,  but  treated  differently.  The  exterior 
columns  of  the  Greek  temples  are  reduced,  multiplied, 
elevated  in  the  air,  and  placed  in  the  category  of  orna. 
ments."  The  natural  weight  of  the  dome  is  lightened  by 
a  crown  of  five  colonnettes.  From  the  two  sides  of  the 
great  gate,  guarded  by  two  Corinthian  columns,  enveloped 
with  a  prodigality  of  foliage,  calices  and  acanthus,  the 
visitor  beholds  the  church  in  all  its  magnificence,  with  its 
files  of  columns,  its  fine  naves,  and  its  multitude  of  graceful 
and  brilliant  forms.  A  second  avenue — the  transept,  also 
richly  furnished — crosses  the  nave,  and  above  this  Corinthian 
forest  smaller  files  of  columns  prolong  themselves  and  sup- 
port a  quadruple  gallery.  A  figure  of  the  Redeemer  in 
mosaic,  with  the  Virgin,  and  a  figure  of  one  of  the  minor 
saints  occupy  the  base  of  the  apse,  all  of  which  are  the 
work  of  Jacopo  Turrita,  the  restorer  of  mosaic  art.  The 


1 82  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

whole  of  the  decorations  of  the  walls,  outside  and  in,  consist 
of  mosaic  work  in  black  and  white  marble. 

The  Baptistry  is  a  simple  pear-shaped  isolated  dome 
placed  upon  walls,  furnished  also  with  colon nettes,  and 
sustained  by  Corinthian  arcades,  with  capitals  and  antique 
bassi-rilievi.  Under  the  cupola  is  a  rich  basin  with  eight 
sides  ;  and  on  the  left  a  marble  throne  decorated  with  grand 
and  simple  figures,  the  work  of  Nicolas  of  Pisa,  a  sculptor 
of  the  thirteenth  century. 

Next  in  order  of  the  marvels  of  Pisa  comes  the  Leaning 
Tower,  which  looks  like  a  strong  round  pillar,  88  feet 
in  diameter,  surrounded  by  seven  storeys  of  round  arched 
arcades.  It  was  commenced  in  the  second  half  of  the 
twelfth  century.  A  plumb-line  suspended  from  the  summit 
hangs  out  about  1 2  feet  from  the  base,  showing  how  far 
the  tower  leans  off  the  perpendicular.  This  singular  inclina- 
tion, which  is  observable  also  in  the  two  towers  of  Bologna, 
is  perhaps  attributable  to  the  unequal  sinking  of  this  struc- 
ture. It  appears  that  the  singularity  showed  itself  as  soon 
as  the  building  was  above  ground;  but  the  architects 
determined  to  proceed  with  their  work  in  open  defiance  of 
the  laws  of  equilibrium.  The  architects  proved  right,  for 
hundreds  of  years  have  passed  since  it  was  expected  this 
tower  would  fall,  and  yet  it  remains  standing. 

In  the  course  of  the  thirteenth  century  Gothic  art  pene- 
trated into  Italy,  and  revealed  itself  there  all  at  once  in  the 
shape  of  two  architectural  masterpieces.  These,  however, 
were  instances  of  a  somewhat  peculiar  Gothic,  such  as 
could  be  comprehended  only  by  Italy,  the  direct  heir 
of  Rome.  This  Italian  Gothic  displayed  forms  rather 
different  from  ours,  and  polychromic  decorations  such  as 
would  be  quite  unsuitable  for  a  cold  climate.  At  Assise 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  183 

this  style  approaches  ours  more  than  at  any  other  place 
in  Italy. 

In  this  instance  there  are  three  churches,  the  one  above 
the  other,  like  the  various  storeys  of  an  architectural  shrine. 
The  lowest  is  a  black  crypt,  like  a  tomb,  into  which  we 
descend  with  torches.  The  second  church  is  long,  low,  and 
sombre  also ;  but  covered  with  fringes,  foliage,  and  painted 
figures,  and  remarkable  for  a  winding  staircase,  and  for  its 
sheafs  of  slender  colonnettes.  Overhead,  the  third  church 
rises  as  aerial  as  the  others  are  sombre  and  obscure.  Every- 
thing here  rises  into  air  and  light.  The  church  narrows  its 
vaults,  points  its  arches,  and  mounts,  and  still  mounts, 
illuminated  by  the  rose -windows,  and  the  coloured  glass 
windows  which  glitter  with  bands  of  gold  and  stories  from  the 
Inspired  Book.  It  is  said  that  in  the  three  churches  the 
architect  intended  to  represent  the  three  worlds.  In  the 
lowest  he  strove  to  depict  the  shadow  of  death,  and  the 
horror  of  the  grave  ;  in  the  middle,  the  passionate  anxiety  of 
the  Christian  in  our  world  of  troubles ;  and  in  the  highest, 
the  joy  and  glory  of  paradise. 

Adjoining  this  wonderful  church  is  a  monastery,  enclos- 
ng  an  elegant  square  cloister  consisting  of  two  storeys  of 
galleries.  Here  in  this  beautiful  retreat,  scholastic  abstrac- 
tions were  transformed  into  ideal  apparitions  by  the  con- 
templative monks. 

The  cathedral  of  Sienna— commenced  about  the  same 
epoch,  but  made  for  a  public  worship  and  a  religion  less  re- 
fined— deviates  more  from  the  Gothic  character,  and  returns 
to  the  regular  strong  Pagan  method  which  is  seen  in  so 
many  Italian  edifices.  Like  the  inferior  arches  of  the  nave, 
the  arch  of  the  portal  is  pointed ;  but  the  arcades  are  round- 
headed.  The  upper  galleries  are  composed  of  Corinthian 


184  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

architraved  colonnades,  while  the  capitals  of  certain  pillars 
of  the  nave  are  composed  of  figures  of  birds. 

The  fagade,  bordered  with  statues,  rises  above  the  three 
gates  in  three  pointed  pediments ;  above  these  pediments 
are  three  pointed  gables;  around  these  gables  are  four 
pointed  towers ;  and  all  these  points  are  notched  with 
indentations.  But  if  the  architect  loves  the  long  slender 
forms  that  have  come  to  him  from  beyond  the  sea,  he  loves 
also  the  solid  forms  which  ancient  traditions  have  left  to 
him.  He  carries  high  in  the  air  the  aerial  globe  of  the 
dome  i  and  he  clothes  the  simft  of  his  columns  with  naked 
figures,  with  hippogriffs,  birds,  acanthus  and  flowers,  which 
interlace  and  twist  at  the  summit.  The  same  blending  of 
architectural  ideas  is  seen  throughout  all  its  details. 

After  the  fagade,  the  marvel  of  the  cathedral  of  Sienna 
is  the  pavement,  decorated  with  inlaid  enamel -work  by 
Becafumi.  It  is  covered  with  a  movable  flooring,  but  the 
visitor,  by  giving  a  gratuity  to  some  of  the  attendants,  can 
have  the  flooring  partly  raised,  and  can  inspect  this  artistic 
work.  At  certain  annual  fetes  the  deal  flooring  is  alto- 
gether removed,  and  the  wonderful  work  can  be  seen  in 
its  entirety. 

Among  the  other  things  to  be  admired  is  the  celebrated 
pulpit  of  Nicolas  of  Pisa,  on  which  that  artist  has  sculp- 
tured the  life  of  Christ,  with  a  chisel  which  has  none  of 
the  stiffness  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

The  church  was  built  at  successive  periods,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  mention  the  different  times  at  which  it  was 
enlarged.  Some  obscurity  hangs  even  over  its  origin,  all 
that  is  known  for  certain  being  that  it  was  rebuilt  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  A  document  of  1012  places  the  dome  of 
the  cathedral  of  Sienna  on  the  site  which  it  occupies  to-day. 


Interior  of  the  Cathedral  of  Sienna 


ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE.  187 

Its  reconstruction  commenced  only  in  1322.  Everything 
proves  that  the  plan  was  then  changed,  and  that  the 
proportions,  still  vast,  were  considerably  reduced. 

Only  the  shadow  of  the  Middle  Ages  glided  ovei 
Florence,  the  religious  sentiment  in  that  city  being  almost 
always  placed  behind  patriotic  pride  and  love  of  beauty. 
The  decree  by  which  she  charged  the  architect  Arnolfo  di 
Lapo  or  di  Gambio  to  build  St.  Mary  of  the  Flowers,  reads 
like  an  ancient  inscription,  or  rather  the  prelude  of  the 
great  Latin  Renaissance.  "  Listen ! "  she  says  :  "  As  it  is 
the  highest  prudence  in  a  people  of  great  origin  to  proceed 
in  their  affairs  in  such  a  manner  that  their  works  will 
bear  witness  to  their  wisdom  and  magnanimity,  it  is  decreed 
that  Arnolfo,  the  master  architect  of  our  city,  shall  make 
models  for  the  repair  of  Santa  Maria,  with  the  greatest 
and  most  prodigal  magnificence,  and  in  such  a  way  that 
the  industry  and  wisdom  of  man  will  not  invent,  nor  ever 
be  able  to  undertake,  anything  that  may  be  greater  or  more 
beautiful." 

We  cannot  consider  this  announcement  ridiculous  when 
we  behold  the  work  to  which  it  refers.  The  nave  measures 
448  feet,  the  transept  325  feet,  and  the  vault  150  feet  in 
height.  The  cupola  is  136  feet  wide,  and  the  cross  which 
surmounts  the  dome  rises  to  the  height  of  387  feet.  The 
exterior  commands  our  admiration  for  its  ornamentation  in 
many-coloured  marbles ;  for  the  vastness  of  its  immense 
octagonal  dome,  which  rises  towards  heaven  with  as  much 
beauty,  and  evinces  more  power  than  the  towers  of  Gothic 
architecture ;  and  for  the  minor  domes  that  group  them- 
selves around  the  apse.  Except  the  shape  of  the  windows, 
there  is  nothing  Gothic  in  this  structure,  strong  walls  being 
made  to  support  themselves  without  the  aid  of  buttresses. 


1 88  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

But  the  want  of  a  fa$ade  disappoints  the  traveller.  Giotto 
had  one  built  in  the  fourteenth  century ;  but  it  was  after- 
wards destroyed,  and  has  never  been  replaced.  Glancing  at 
the  interior,  we  find  its  aspect  grandiose  but  very  simple, 
though  the  pavement  is  so  rich  that  it  looks  like  a  parterre 
of  flowers.  The  arcades  are  sustained  by  pilasters,  supports 
which  cannot  be  compared  to  the  Greek  columns  or  the 
Romanesque  or  Gothic  clusters ;  but  the  height  of  the  dome 
and  its  beauty  make  up  for  every  imperfection,  and  persuade 
us  to  overlook  the  pompous  and  tiresome  frescoes  of  Vasari. 
The  history  of  this  dome — beholding  which  Michael 
Angelo  exclaimed,  "  It  would  be  difficult  to  equal  it,  it  is 
impossible  to  surpass  it ! " — deserves  to  be  briefly  given. 
Arnolfo  di  Lapo,  Giotto,  Orcagna — to  mention  only  the  most 
famous  of  the  architects  of  Santa  Maria — worked  each  in 
succession  upon  the  church  without  advancing  it  so  far  as  to 
prepare  it  for  the  roof.  Brunelleschi  offered  to  execute  a 
dome  which  should  at  a  considerable  height  sustain  itself  by 
its  own  weight,  without  the  additional  support  of  buttresses, 
of  iron  girdings,  or  of  a  central  pillar,  which  were  the  artifices 
proposed  by  his  collaborateurs.  He  was  treated  as  a  fool ; 
but  no  other  practical  plan  being  offered,  he  was  asked  to 
execute  his  plan,  which  he  did  not  wish  to  divulge.  He  was 
then  a  little  more  than  thirty  years  of  age.  The  construc- 
tion of-  his  dome  occupied  him  (concurrently  with  other 
famous  works)  the  whole  of  his  lifetime,  and  when  he  died  it 
was  not  quite  finished.  It  was  completed,  however,  accord- 
ing to  his  designs.  Thus  was  raised  the  first  dome  properly 
so  called.  Up  to  this  time  cupolas  were  only  circular  roofs ; 
after  this  they  were  structures  apparently  hung  in  space  above 
the  lower  building.  In  later  times  Bramante  and  Michael 
Angelo  spoke  of  raising  the  Pantheon  of  Agrippa  upon  the 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  189 

vaults  of  the  Temple  of  Peace.  Such  a  feat  had  already 
been  accomplished  by  Brunelleschi. 

On  the  right  of  the  cathedral  rises  the  isolated  campanile 
built  by  Giotto,  a  square  tower,  semi-Gothic,  that  would 
be  severe  in  style  but  for  its  rich  and  varied  colours,  which 
form  the  distinguishing  feature  of  Tuscan  architecture.  It 
is  extremely  simple  in  outline.  We  cannot  say  that  it  has 
not  been  surpassed  ;  but  its  beautiful  proportions  and  its 
height,  263  feet,  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  cathedral 
near  it.  The  celebrated  baptistry,  the  gates  of  which 
Ghiberti  sculptured  in  bronze,  built  upon  the  site  and  with 
the  remains  of  an  ancient  temple,  completes  the  decoration 
of  the  square  of  the  cathedral.  Chains  of  iron,  a  trophy 
won  from  Pisa,  are  here  to  be  seen  ;  for  Florence  had  con- 
quered the  other  city  in  a  political  as  well  as  in  an  artistic 
sense. 

While  the  Gothic  seemed  about  to  disappear  from  Central 
Italy  about  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  it  still  held  its 
ground  in  Lombardy,  producing  all  its  perfections  in  the 
cathedral  of  Milan.  But  this  edifice,  in  spite  of  its  magnificence, 
its  vastness  and  renown,  cannot  be  compared  with  the  marvels 
of  Gothic  architecture,  as  these  are  to  be  seen  in  France. 
Such  is  the  impression  of  most  travellers.  The  cathedral  of 
Milan  is  thus  spoken  of  by  Heine :  "  From  some  distance  it 
looks  like  white  paper  cut  into  endless  fantastic  and  orna- 
mental shapes,  and  on  approaching  it  we  are  astonished  to 
find  that  it  is  composed  not  of  paper  but  of  veritable  white 
marble.  The  innumerable  statues  of  the  saints  that  cover 
the  edifice,  standing  in  all  attitudes  under  their  little  Gothic 
niches,  form  a  collection  of  people  which  agitates  the  mind 
of  the  beholder.  On  closer  examination  we  find  the  build- 
ing beautiful  throughout,  a  colossal  architectural  pet,  a  play- 


190  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

thing  for  children  of  the  giants."  The  interior  is  more  austere, 
Its  five  naves  are  sustained  by  pillars  flanked  by  columns 
and  covered  with  immense  capitals  surmounted  with  colossal 
statues.  The  vaults,  beautiful  and  bold,  are  153  feet  from 
the  ground.  Everything  in  the  building,  which  measures 
520  feet  by  182  feet,  is  in  white  marble,  not  a  fragment  of 
wood  being  seen.  Numerous  spires  crown  it,  the  chief  of 
which,  in  white  marble,  rises  to  the  height  of  350  feet,  and 
supports  a  large  statue  of  the  Virgin.  Access  to  the  top  of 
this  is  gained  by  means  of  a  stair,  and  from  the  summit  is 
obtained  a  fine  view  of  the  varied  scenery  of  Lombardy. 
The  outline  of  the  white  Alps  is  seen  against  the  blue 
horizon  on  the  north.  On  the  south  and  west  are  the 
Apennines,  while  all  round  seems  a  sea  of  verdure  dotted 
here  and  there  with  white  spots,  which  are  the  towns  and 
villages.  Commenced  in  1386,  under  Jean  Galeas  Visconti, 
by  French  and  German  architects,  continued  for  four 
hundred  years,  almost  finished  by  Napoleon,  this  great 
edifice  remains  to  the  present  time  incomplete. 

There  is  a  large  number  of  admirable  structures  which 
we  must  leave  unnoticed.  Among  these  are  the  palace- 
fortresses  of  Sienna  and  of  Florence,  numerous  churches, 
the  Chartreuse  of  Pavia,  and  especially  the  famous  ducal 
palace  of  Venice,  wherein  the  Saracen  taste  blends  with  the 
Greek  style,  and  the  whole  is  enhanced  by  Gothic  ornament. 
This  first  Renaissance  style  possesses  wonderful  charm  and 
grace.  But  we  are  now  about  to  see  the  architectural  mind 
ridding  itself  more  and  more  of  the  influence  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  becoming  more  and  more  inspired  with  the  spirit 
of  antiquity.  San  Gallo,  Bramante,  Michael  Angelo,  and 
twenty  others ,  covered  Rome  with  palaces  and  churches, 
which  we  shall  next  briefly  glance  at. 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  IQI 


2.    RENAISSANCE  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  greater  number  of  the  palaces  with  which  the  most 
famous  architects  of  the  sixteenth  century  have  filled  Rome 
and  its  neighbourhood,  are  not  equal  in  originality  to  the 
works  accomplished  by  their  predecessors  one  or  two  cen- 
turies before.  The  palaces  of  Doria,  Chigi,  and  Barberini 
are  all  magnificent  structures,  but  their  interior  riches  eclipse 
their  architectural  beauties.  The  noble  Florentine  mass  of 
the  palace  of  Venezia,  built  in  1464 ;  the  interior  colonnade 
of  the  palace  of  La  Chancellerie,  the  work  of  Bramante ; 
the  Court  of  Loges  at  the  Vatican,  arranged  and  decorated 
by  Raphael ;  the  ingenious  portico  of  the  Massini  palace, 
and  the  celebrated  Farnesi  palace, — these  are  almost  the 
whole  that  will  leave  a  durable  impression  upon  the 
memory. 

The  Massini  palace,  an  object  of  admiration  and  study 
among  architects,  shows  what  talent  can  make  out  of  an 
irregular  and  narrow  space.  Its  curved  facade  has  a  Doric 
vestibule  leading  to  three  courts  of  exquisite  elegance. 
Raised  in  1532,  it  is  considered  the  chief  work  of  Baldassare 
Peruzzi  of  Sienna,  who  has  been  called  the  Raphael  of 
architecture. 

The  Farnesi  is,  however,  the  most  beautiful  and  superb 
palace  in  Rome.  Its  formation  is  a  perfect  square.  Each 
of  the  four  sides  is  paved  with  three  ranks  of  crosses.  By 
the  great  exterior  gate  we  enter  into  a  vestibule  ornamented 
with  twelve  Doric  columns,  in  granite,  mounted  on  bases. 
The  court  is  exactly  square.  It  is  decorated  all  round  with 
the  three  orders — Doric,  Ionic,  Gothic — superposed.  The 
two  first  support  the  arcades  of  open  porticoes.  Pilasters 


19*  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

separate  the  windows.  A  magnificent  staircase  conducts  to 
the  gallery  on  the  first  storey,  the  vault  of  which  was  painted 
by  Annibal  Carrache  and  his  pupils.  It  is  a  splendid  de- 
coration, compared  by  Poussin  to  the  works  of  Raphael. 

Antonio  de  San-Gallo,  the  first  architect  who  connected 
his  name  with  the  Farnesi  palace,  designed  its  plan  foi 
Paul  III.,  when  that  pontiff  was  still  a  cardinal.  He  raised 
the  principal  fa$ade  as  high  as  the  second  storey.  In  1544 
the  crown  of  the  edifice  was  commenced,  and  was  executed 
according  to  Michael  Angelo's  improvements  upon  San- 
Gallo's  designs.  It  is  supposed  that  Michael  Angelo  was 
assisted  by  Vignoli.  It  is  to  the  combination  of  incorrect 
genius  and  classic  talent  that  we  owe  the  wonderful  cornice 
admired  by  architects  and  travellers.  Vignoli,  who  succeeded 
Michael  Angelo,  died  in  1564.  Jacques  de  la  Porte  com- 
pleted the  back  fagade  of  the  palace  in  1589.  It  is  built 
of  brick — the  entablature,  the  bosses,  crosses,  columns,  and 
pediments  being,  however,  wrought  out  of  Italian  stone, 
taken  partly  from  the  Colosseum  and  the  theatre  ot 
Marcellus. 

Beautiful  churches  of  the  modern  Renaissance  style  are 
not  wanting  in  Rome,  but  they  inspire  neither  the  interest 
of  the  ancient  basilicas,  nor  have  they  the  grandeur  of  our 
Romanesque  and  Gothic  cathedrals.  St.  Maria  of  the 
Angels,  St.  Louis,  the  Jesus  church,  on  which  Michael 
Angelo  laboured,  as  well  as  Jacques  de  la  Porte  and  Vignole, 
are  certainly  remarkable  for  their  great  dimensions,  the 
beauty  of  their  fagades,  and  their  ornaments,  which,  how- 
ever, are  more  pompous  than  beautiful.  But  it  is  useless  to 
enumerate  these  when  we  have  the  basilica  of  St.  Peter, 
surpassing  them  in  all  their  greatest  qualities,  and  even 
rivalling  them  in  their  defects. 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  195 

The  ancient  basilica  of  St  Peter  was  threatening  to  sink 
into  ruin,  when  Julius  II.  commanded  Bramante  to  recon- 
struct it.  The  first  stone  was  laid  with  great  pomp  on  the 
i8th  April,  1506.  In  1514  the  hemicycles  were  finished, 
and  the  four  great  arches  destined  to  support  the  dome  (for 
the  dome  was  conceived  by  Bramante).  This  architect,  who 
died  before  the  work  was  completed,  was  succeeded  in 
turn  by  Giocondo,  Julien  de  San-Gallo,  Raphael,  Peruzzi, 
and  Antonio  de  San-Gallo.  The  year  1546  arrived,  and  not 
only  was  nothing  finished,  but  considerable  indecision 
existed  as  to  what  ought  to  be  done.  Then  it  was  that,  at 
the  entreaties  of  the  Pope,  Michael  Angelo,  then  an  old 
man  72  years  of  age,  with  great  reluctance  consented  to 
take  the  work  in  hand.  His  predecessor  had  always  hesi- 
tated between  the  Latin  and  Greek  cross.  Angelo  decided 
in  favour  of  the  latter,  being  rightly  of  opinion  that  the 
dome  must  be  in  the  middle  of  the  building.  At  the  time 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1564,  when  he  was 
about  90  years  of  age,  the  drum  of  the  dome  was  raised. 
There  remained  thereafter  to  be  constructed,  according  to 
his  designs,  the  double  spherical  vault,  the  anterior  branch  of 
the  cross,  and  the  portico  of  the  fagade.  The  cupola  was 
not  finished  till  the  time  of  Sextus  V.  Charles  Maderne 
was  commissioned  by  Paul  V.  to  complete  the  nave  and 
fagade  upon  a  new  plan,  more  suitable  to  the  necessities  of 
the  liturgy.  He  changed  Michael  Angelo's  Greek  cross  into 
a  Latin  cross,  by  prolonging  the  nave,  and  applied  those 
superposed  porticoes  which  give  the  church  the  appearance 
of  a  palace.  Finally  Le  Bernin,  a  man  of  true  genius, 
enclosed  this  magnificent  perspective  with  two  rows  of 
carved  colonnades,  surrounding  a  vast  square,  decorated 
with  two  monumental  fountains  and  a  lofty  obelisk. 

N    2 


196  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

"  The  building  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  some  sacristies  and  mosaic  work  executed  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  lasted  for  a  century  and  a  half.  Whilst 
it  was  being  erected  it  saw  twenty  popes  come  and  go.  Its 
works  were  successively  directed  by  thirteen  architects,  from 
Bramante  to  Bernin  ;  it  cost  a  sum  which,  in  1693,  amounted 
to  no  less  than  251,450,000  francs,  and  the  expense  must 
have  doubled  from  1692  to  the  present  day,  so  that  the  cost 
of  the  building  may  be  set  down  at  500,000,000  francs." 

Its  dimensions  are  colossal ;  the  exterior  length  is  7 1 2 
feet ;  that  of  the  transept  is  500  feet ;  the  width  of  the  great 
nave  is  88  feet ;  the  vault  begins  to  spring  at  n  i  feet  above 
the  soil,  and  from  this  to  its  highest  point  there  is  a  distance 
of  71  feet;  the  pillars  of  the  nave  are  30  feet  high  ;  the 
arcades,  of  which  they  receive  the  support,  have  an  opening 
of  43  feet;  while  the  dome  is  137  feet  in  interior  diameter, 
the  pillars  which  support  it  being  70  feet  in  thickness. 

The  cathedrals  of  Milan,  of  Mans,  of  Rheims,  the  largest 
that  exist,  are  dwarfed  by  the  side  of  St.  Peter's  ;  and  as  for 
Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  and  the  cathedrals  of  Bourges  and 
Chartres,  they  could  stand  very  well  in  the  transept  of  the 
great  structure  at  Rome. 

The  vestibule  of  St.  Peter's  is  233  feet  long.  The  height 
under  the  arch  of  the  great  nave  is  153  feet ;  that  of  the 
summit  of  the  cupola  is  431  feet  above  the  ground.  The 
Great  Pyramid  of  Egypt,  the  Spire  of  Strasbourg,  and  the 
Tower  of  Amiens,  exceed  this  height  by  42,  32,  and  6J  feet 
respectively.  Again,  the  surface  covered  by  St.  Peter's  is 
said  to  be  74,700  square  feet,  exclusively  of  the  area 
covered  by  the  sacristies  and  the  galleries  in  front  of  the 
building. 

The  decoration  of  the  interior  is  of  the  greatest  sumptu- 


ITALIAN    RENAISSANCE.  199 

ousncss.  The  whole  pavement  is  of  coloured  marble,  and 
the  vault  is  of  stucco  and  mosaics  on  a  gold  ground.  All 
round  are  tombs,  statues,  and  carved  works  in  bronze,  while 
especially  famous  is  the  canopy  of  the  chief  altar  by  Bernin. 
The  large  pilasters  which  support  the  arches  of  the  four 
enormous  triforiums  of  the  nave,  are  covered  with  arabesques 
and  niches.  From  each  arcade  opens  up  the  unexpected 
arcade  of  a  chapel,  which  is  often  of  the  dimensions  of  a 
regular  church. 

Above  these  arches,  resting  upon  the  four  enormous 
pillars,  runs  a  great  frieze,  on  which  is  carved  the  inscription : 
2u  es  Pcfrus,  et  super  hanc pciram,  &c.,  the  letters  of  which 
are  about  the  size  of  a  man.  Above  the  frieze  rises  a  great 
range  of  composite  pilasters  which  enclose  high  windows, 
and  these  are  surmounted  by  an  attic  from  which  springs  the 
superb  dome.  Finally,  a  gilt  ball  and  a  cross  crown  the 
lantern,  pierced  all  round  with  sixteen  windows,  from  which 
we  look  down  into  the  area  of  the  church  as  into  a  profound 
abyss. 

In  spite  of  its  magnificence,  St.  Peter's  is  not  perfect 
Some  lay  its  imperfections  upon  the  abandonment  of 
Michael  Angelo's  plan,  while  others  say  that  that  plan  itself 
was  the  cause  of  them.  The  basilica  is  wanting  in  religious 
tone — there  is  nothing  of  mystery  about  it,  and  the  small 
number  of  its  divisions  diminishes  its  apparent  grandeur. 
Gothic  or  Byzantine  cathedrals,  it  must  be  confessed,  exhibit 
rarer  and  more  striking  beauties  than  this  gigantic  edifice. 

It  was  not  long  before  St.  Peter's  became  a  type  for 
ecclesiastical  edifices.  Almost  all  the«churches  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  adopted  the  form  of  the 
Latin  cross,  the  employment  of  pilasters,  the  groined  vault, 
and  the  central  dome.  Most  of  these  churches  have  the 


200  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

faults  of  St  Peter's  without  its  good  qualities ;  they  arc 
heavy  and  cold,  and  wanting  in  religious  character.  Thus 
the  church  of  Val  de  Grace  at  Paris,  dating  from  about  1645 
or  1665,  built  after  the  designs  of  Mansart,  Lemercier,  and 
Gabriel  Leduc,  is  in  excellent  style,  and  would  produce  as 
great  an  effect  as  its  great  model,  if  it  were  only  built  on 
the  same  scale  as  to  size,  and  decorated  with  as  much  pro 
fusion  and  taste.  The  two  orders— Corinthian  and  Compo- 
site— which  form  its  facade,  rise  with  an  elegant  simplicity. 
The  drum  of  the  dome,  decorated  and  sustained  by  very 
beautiful  pilasters  which  give  it  a  singular  lightness,  takes  its 
spring  from  a  number  of  small  turrets.  Caryatides  and 
vases  crown  the  pilasters  and  enclose  the  medallions  of  the 
attic  which  supports  the  beautiful  curve  of  the  dome,  divided 
by  two  ranges  of  dormer-windows,  and  by  rich  vertical  ribs. 
In  order  to  estimate  the  merit  of  this  original  conception, 
one  must  move  a  little  to  the  north-west,  upon  the  declivity 
of  the  hill,  where  the  dome  becomes  isolated  and  seems  to 
increase  in  size.  It  surpasses  the  Pantheon  in  the  choice 
character  of  its  proportions  and  ornaments.  It  has  only 
one  rival  in  Paris,  and  that  is  the  'dome  of  the  Invalides. 

The  dome  of  St.  Paul's  in  London,  on  the  other  hand, 
though  much  more  important  and  ambitious,  can  scarcely  be 
compared  to  it,  though  taken  in  the  mass  it  reflects  great 
credit  on  its  architect  Sir  Christopher  Wren.  It  has  a  height 
oi  350  feet,  und  rises  most  majestically  above  a  colonnade 
which  surrounds  its  base,  but  which  gives  to  it  an  appearance 
of  heavinr^s.  The  same  defect  is  to  be  remarked  in  the 
Pantheot)  at  Paris.  Every  colonnade  encircling  the  dome, 
and  of  a  larger  diameter  than  it,  always  has  the  effect  of 
dwarfing  it  Nothing  is  gained  by  attempts  to  improve 
upon  Michael  Angelo. 


ITALIAN   RENAISSANCE. 


203 


Before  definitively  quitting  Rome  and  Italy  to  trace  the 
development  of  the  second  Renaissance  and  classic  art  in 


Val  de  Grice. 

France,  we  must  mention  two  kinds  of  architectural  decora, 
tions,  which  excelled  the  pompous  school  that  succeeded 


204  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

Raphael,  San-Gallo,  and  Michael  Angelo  in  naves,  squares, 
and  fountains.  Nothing  could  be  more  nobly  conceived 
than  the  square  of  St.  Peter,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nothing 
could  be  more  ridiculous  than  the  long  square  of  Navone. 
Modern  art  is  not  to  blame  for  this  device ;  it  was  supplied 
by  the  site  of  the  circus  of  Alexander  Severus.  Three  foun- 
tains rise  at  the  extremities  and  in  the  middle.  "  Figure  to 
yourselves,"  says  De  Brosses,  "  at  the  centre  of  a  square  a 
block  of  rocks  pierced  and  open  to  the  daylight,  with  four 
colossal  figures  of  river  deities  crouching  at  the  corners  ot 
this  block,  pouring  torrents  of  water  from  their  urns.  Here 
a  lion,  there  a  horse,  are  to  be  seen,  that  have  come  to 
drink  at  this  fountain,  while  reptiles  creep  on  the  rock,  which 
is  surmounted  with  a  temporary  little  obelisk  in  granite, 
which  looks  either  like  a  toy  or  a  mockery.  Such  is  the 
Navone  fountain." 

Among  monumental  fountains  we  must  mention  St. 
Peter  in  Montorio,  a  triumphal  arch  of  five  bays,  which 
crowns  the  Janiculine  Hill,  and  of  which  the  gates  are  de- 
corated with  pools  of  water  presented  perpendicularly ;  that 
of  the  Termini,  built  under  Sextus  V. ;  the  Acqua  Trevi, 
a  vast  Corinthian  composition,  in  which  groups  of  sailors 
stand  upon  a  mass  of  rocks  above  the  basin,  into  which  runs 
a  stream  famous  in  antiquity,  the  Acqua  Vergine.  The 
fountain  of  Trevi  has  all  the  defects  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, with  all  its  character  and  decorations. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

FRENCH      RENAISSANCE. 

WE  have  seen  the  Gothic,  which  came  into  existence  in 
France,  prolonging  its  reign  during  the  whole  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  pervading  the  ecclesiastical  architecture. 
Under  this  influence,  palaces  and  mansions  soon  began  to 
be  affected  by  a  new  power.  Civil  life,  which  gradually 
supplanted  the  influence  of  purely  religious  life,  began  to 
throw  off  the  sombre  forms  of  the  past,  and  found  in  the 
bright  style  of  the  Renaissance  the  appropriate  expression 
of  its  gladness  and  strong  youth.  Everywhere  dwellings 
were  built  in  a  lighter  and  more  elegant  fashion.  The  Italian 
artists,  doubtless,  contributed  to  the  decoration  of  many 
palaces;  but  a  French  school  of  architects  was  rapidly 
founded,  and  soon  led  architectural  art  in  Europe.  It  is 
sufficient  to  name  Pierre  Lescot,  Bullant,  Philibert  Delorme, 
and  Ducorceau,  who  rendered  the  reigns  of  Francis  I.  and 
Henry  IV.  illustrious  by  their  works. 

The  first  celebrated  French  chateau  built  in  the  sixteenth 
century  was  Gaillon.  All  that  now  remains  of  it  may  be 
seen  at  Paris,  in  the  court  of  the  Palace  des  Beaux-Arts. 
Its  charming  portal,  which  is  called  the  Arch  of  Gaillon, 
shows  all  the  characters  of  the  French  transition  from  the 
Gothic  to  Renaissance.  It  is  attributed  to  an  artist  named 
Pierre  Fain. 

The  chateau  of  Blois,  parts  of  which  date  from  the  thir- 
teenth century,  passed  through  all  the  phases  of  this  trans 


208  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

formation  of  architecture,  and  bears  the  marks  of  them. 
Louis  XII.,  who  was  born  there,  was  the  first  to  dream  of 
altering  it  to  suit  the  altered  times.  From  his  reign  dates 
the  body  of  the  building  which  forms  the  east  side,  where 
are  the  principal  entrances.  In  the  interior  of  the  court  the 
portico  on  the  ground-floor  is  composed  of  arcades  in  seg- 
ments of  a  circle,  supported  by  columns  covered  with  ara- 
besque ornaments  and  fleurs-de-lis.  The  composition  of 
this  portico  recalls  the  style  of  the  castle  of  Gaillon,  and 
deserves  to  be  classed  beside  the  rich  decorations  of  Valois. 

To  the  reign  of  Francis  I.  belongs  the  north-west  fagade, 
with  its  two  beautiful  galleries  \  its  balconies,  looking  as  if 
suspended  from  long  pendants ;  its  friezes,  in  which  sala- 
manders alternate  with  birds  ;  its  superposed  pilasters,  with 
varied  capitals ;  and  the  short  Ionic  columns  of  the  third 
storey. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fagade,  the  extent  of  which  has 
been  diminished  by  the  addition  of  Gaston  d'Orteans,  rises 
a  stair  open  to  the  daylight.  Each  opening  in  the  balcony 
is  ornamented  with  a  balustrade  formed  by  bunches  of  leaves 
in  the  first  storey,  and  of  salamanders  in  the  higher  storey. 
Above  the  cornice  rises  an  attic  terminating  in  a  terrace,  the 
entablature  of  which  is  ornamented  with  all  the  sumptuous- 
ness  which  the  imagination  of  the  Renaissance  architects 
could  heap  upon  it.  The  balustrades  of  the  terrace,  and  the 
salamanders  placed  at  the  summits  of  the  buttresses,  com- 
bine the  separate  styles  of  decoration  of  the  balconies  and 
the  stairs.  Arabesques  of  exquisite  taste,  and  beautiful 
niches  in  which  allegorical  statuettes  are  placed,  ornament 
the  buttresses.  The  stair  is  decorated  with  carved  ribs,  the 
points  of  intersection  supporting  medallions  varied  in  every 
possible  way. 


FRENCH    RENAISSANCE.  2X1 

As  to  the  interior  of  this  abode  of  the  Valois,  it  is  like 
the  genius  of  that  family — as  simple  and  unpretentiouf 
as  it  is  noble.  Only  long,  low  halls  are  to  be  seen,  paved 
with  varnished  tiles,  along  which  you  are  led  by  the  cice 
rone,  who  recites  in  monotonous  voice  the  names  of  th< 
kings  and  princes  of  the  house,  and  narrates  the  death  of 
the  Duke  of  Guise,  who  was  assassinated  in  the  vestibule  oi 
the  closet  of  Henry  III. 

That  part  of  the  chateau  which  was  the  work  of  Francis  I. 
was  seriously  damaged  by  the  Revolution.  Its  restoration 
was  owing  to  the  exertions  of  Louis  Philippe  and  the  talent 
of  M.  Duban. 

Next  in  order  may  be  mentioned  the  chateau  of  Chenon- 
ceaux,  which  was  founded  in  1515  by  Thomas  Bohier,  a 
chamberlain  under  four  kings.  It  was  acquired  in  1535  by 
Francis  I.,  given  by  Henry  II.  to  Diana  of  Poictiers,  embel- 
lished by  Catherine  de  Medicis,  surrounded  by  gardens,  trans- 
mitted to  several  members  of  the  royal  family  successively, 
and,  finally,  is  at  present  inhabited  by  a  rich  private  person. 
It  has  been  spared  by  time  and  revolutions,  and  is  one  of  the 
productions  which  do  the  greatest  honour  to  French  art 
Specially  admirable  are  the  two  galleries  which  connect  the 
bridge  of  the  Cher  with  the  apartments,  the  kitchens  placed 
in  the  towers  which  form  the  piles  of  this  bridge,  the  beau- 
tiful chimney  of  the  Hall  of  Catherine  de  Medicis,  made 
by  Jean  Goujon  for  Diana  of  Poictiers,  and  the  unrivalled 
ceilings,  covered  with  figures  of  Charles  IX.  and  his  mother. 

The  chateau  of  Chambord,  which  also  dates  from  the 
time  of  Francis  I.,  is  not  in  such  good  taste  as  the  bridge  of 
Chenonceaux  or  the  charming  galleries  of  Blois ;  but  still 
it  is  extraordinary  enough  to  merit  attention.  A  donjon, 
flanked  by  four  strong  towers,  forms  the  middle  of  the  fa9ade. 

O    2 


212  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

With  this  Gothic  mass  are  combined  the  pilasters  and  hori- 
zontal lines  of  the  Renaissance.  There  is  bul  little  sculp- 
ture, all  the  ornamentation  being  heaped  on  the  roofs.  These 
consist  of  chimneys,  dormer-windows,  towers,  and  turrets, 
diversified  with  embrasures  and  curious  sculptures.  Amid 
these  fantastic  structures  rises  a  lantern  upon  a  staircase 
unequalled  in  France,  and  which  can  be  seen  from  the 
heights  of  Blois.  In  this  complicated  staircase  many  per- 
sons can  mount  and  descend  at  the  same  time,  and  yet  be 
unseen  by  each  other.  Its  crown  is  formed  of  four  orders. 
The  first  is  an  elegant  Corinthian  portico,  circular,  and 
decorated  with  columns  and  pillars.  Across  the  high  arches 
of  its  arcades  we  see  the  spiral  stair.  The  arch i volts  are 
surmounted  by  a  cornice,  an  entablature,  and  a  balustrade. 
On  the  second  stage  the  turret  is  pierced  with  square  win- 
dows ;  it  rises,  boldly  sustained  by  buttresses,  in  the  form 
of  demi-arches.  Above  the  demi-arches  is  an  entablature 
and  cornice.  It  terminates  in  a  pointed  ornament  like  a 
pinnacle. 

The  most  important  parts  of  the  chateau  of  Fontaine- 
bleau  date  from  the  same  period.  It  was  commenced  by 
Francis  I.  and  Henry  II.,  ornamented  by  Charles  IX., 
doubled  by  Henry  IV.,  enriched  by  Louis  XIII.  with  a 
beautiful  stair,  mutilated  by  Louis  XV.  and  Louis  XVI., 
repaired  by  Napoleon  and  Louis  XVIII.,  and  completely 
restored  by  Louis  Philippe. 

Before  the  sixteenth  century  Fontainebleau  was  only  a 
place  of  assembly  for  huntsmen,  having  only  a  donjon,  a 
chapel  of  the  time  of  St.  Louis,  and  divers  buildings  occu- 
pying the  circumference  of  an  irregular  court  called  the  Oval 
Court  Francis  I.  razed  the  ancient  building,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  donjon ;  replaced  the  massive  gate  with  an 


FRENCH    RENAISSANCE,  215 

elegant  pavilion,  called  the  Porte  Dore'e,  consisting  of  two 
storeys  of  alcoves ;  raised  in  front  of  the  chapel  a  portico 
surmounted  by  a  monumental  throne,  where  the  great  per- 
sons could  sit  and  behold  the  tourneys  held  in  the  court 
below  r  a&d  constructed  the  gallery  that  bears  his  name. 


The  Porte  Doree  of  the  Chateau  of  Fontainebleau. 

The  buildings  of  the  Court  of  the  White  Horse,  where 
Napoleon  bade  adieu  to  the  guard,  were  also  commenced 
by  Francis  I. 

A  few  words  on  the  interior  of  the  Galleries  of  Francis  I. 
and  Henry  II.  will  give  an  idea  of  the  marvellous  taste  of 
the  decorations  of  the  French  Renaissance  at  the  time  when 
Primatice,  Rosso,  Nicolo  dell'  Abbate,  Cellini,  and  Serlio 


216 


MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


painted  the  ceilings  and  walls,  designed  the  arabesques,  and 
traced  the  outlines  of  the  fire-places  and  wainscotings. 

The  Gallery  of  Francis  I.  measures  208  feet  by  20.     Its 
ceiling,  in  gilt  walnut,  is  divided  into  rich  compartments. 


Gallery  of  Francis  I.  at  Fontainebleau. 

Armorial  bearings,  trophies,  salamanders,  and  interlaced 
monograms  shine  out  from  the  rich  panelling  that  orna- 
ments the  walls  to  the  height  of  6J  feet  The  spaces 
between  the  windows  are  partly  filled  up  with  paintings 
and  partly  with  alti-rilievi,  representing  all  the  fictions  of 
the  ancient  mythology,  such  as  chimeras,  nymphs,  and  fawns, 
encompassed  with  emblems  and  garlands.  The  inlaid  floor 
corresponds  with  the  riches  of  the  ceiling  and  the  panelling. 


FRENCH   RENAISSANCE.  219 

The  Hall  of  the  Fetes  is  85  feet  long,  and  the  width 
between  the  piers  is  30  feet ;  though  from  window  to  window 
the  width  would  be  considerably  wider,  as  the  walls  are  very 
*hick  and  the  embrasures  deep.  This  arrangement  was 
rery  suitable  for  the  kind  of  entertainments  formerly  given 
iere,  for  those  who  were  not  actually  engaged  in  the  amuse- 
ments of  the  hour  could  stand  within  the  embrasure,  looking 
on  from  their  retreats  upon  the  ballets  and  dances.  Ten 
great  arcaded  bays,  i  o  feet  high,  light  this  magnificent  hall, 
and  from  it  a  splendid  view  of  the  gardens  and  flower-plots, 
and  further  off  the  massive  foliage  of  the  great  forest,  may 
be  obtained. 

On  the  ceiling,  great  octagonal  compartments,  decorated 
with  devices,  profusely  ornamented  with  gold  and  silver, 
shine  out  from  the  colours  of  the  background.  As  to  the 
woodwork,  it  is  magnificent.  The  carving  of  the  tribune, 
the  paintings  by  Nicolo  under  direction  of  Primatice,  the 
stucco  mouldings  that  enrich  the  arcades,  all  combine  to 
make  this  great  hall  a  work  of  art  that  commands  admira- 
tion. Let  the  reader  imagine  himself  in  these  gorgeous 
apartments  when  in  their  prime,  amid  all  the  splendour  of 
the  costumes  of  the  sixteenth  century,  let  him  people  this 
immense  conglomeration  of  courts,  saloons,  and  peristyles 
with  the  busy  life  of  a  former  time,  and  Fontainebleau  would 
truly  appear  to  be  one  of  the  most  magical  abodes  ever 
erected  by  human  art. 

The  reign  of  Valois  may  be  said  to  be  the  culminating 
point  of  the  French  Renaissance.  To  this  house  do  we  owe 
the  greater  part  of  the  beauties  of  the  Louvre,  which  forms 
with  the  Tuileries  the  richest  contribution  of  palaces  of 
which  any  European  nation  can  boast. 

Historians  do  not  agree  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Louvre 


220  MARVELS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

It  is  supposed  that  a  donjon  occupied  the  site  before  the 
time  of  Louis  le  Gros,  who  fortified  it  with  ditches,  towers, 
and  walls.  Charles  V.  inhabited  the  Louvre — raised  it,  for- 
tified it,  crowned  it  with  platfonns,  and  made  in  fact  what 
we  see  it  in  the  picture  preserved  at  St.  Denis. 

After  the  great  repairs  made  on  the  Louvre  in  1539, 
Francis  I.  commanded  Pierre  Lescot  to  rebuild  it.  The 
new  Louvre,  which  we  now  call  the  old  Louvre,  was  com- 
menced in  1541.  At  the  death  of  Francis  I.  the  works 
were  but  little  advanced,  and  in  1548  there  only  existed  two 
wings  of  the  square  on  the  south  and  west.  Nothing  is 
better  conceived,  or  more  richly  ornamented,  than  the 
pilasters  of  the  ground-floor  and  the  two  storeys  decorated 
by  Jean  Goujon  and  Paul  Ponce,  a  pupil  of  Michael 
Angelo. 

Especially  in  the  composition  and  proportions  of  the 
roof  has  Lescot  shown  himself  a  consummate  artist.  Just 
as  a  woman  reserves  all  her  resources  of  the  toilet  for  her 
coiffure,  so  this  architect  arranged  his  work  in  such  wise  that 
the  luxuriousness  of  decoration  should  go  on  increasing  as 
the  building  ascended,  and  should  be  most  abundant  and 
beautiful  at  the  roof.  Nor  did  he  even  stop  here.  Frankly 
accepting  the  necessities  which  the  high  roofs  and  roans 
placed  upon  him,  he  threw  so  much  art  and  taste  into  the 
composition  of  the  leaden  pipes  and  the  chimneys,  he 
imported  such  research  into  the  ornamentation  of  the  gilded 
ridge-leads  which  crowned  the  summits  of  the  roofs,  that 
the  highest  parts  of  the  building  might  well  pass  for  the 
most  beautiful. 

"  Consider  the  attic  alone,"  says  Reynaud,  "  and  you 
will  see  pilasters  supporting  a  roof  in  perfect  harmony  with 
them,  and  above  the  cornice  a  chimney  ot  the  most  elegant 


FRENCH    RENAISSANCE.  f*5 

shape.  Glance  over  the  whole  edifice — all  these  separate 
divisions  seem  to  form  only  one  whole — and  you  are  niled 
with  admiration  at  the  view  of  the  roof,  which  contains  most 
character,  is  the  most  elegant  and  rich,  and  in  one  word  the 
most  beautiful  in  modern  architecture.  What  strikes  you 
in  this  masterpiece  is  that  execution  has  not  shown  itself 
inferior  to  conception,  that  the  style  corresponds  with  the 
thought  sought  to  be  embodied,  and  that  both  idea  and 
expression  are  harmonious." 

While  Philibert  Delorme  constructed  the  Tuileries  for 
Catherine  de  Medicis,  Charles  IX.  commenced  the  gallery 
with  alternate  courses  of  stone  and  marble  which  runs 
along  the  garden  of  the  "  Infante."  The  first  storey  was 
only  raised  by  Henry  IV.  The  Gallery  of  Apollo,  as  we  see 
it  to-day,  dates  only  from  1662. 

The  sixteenth  century — one  does  not  know  why — was 
occupied  in  putting  an  end  to  the  work  of  Lescot ;  that  is 
to  say,  in  shutting  up  the  court  of  the  Louvre,  so  admirably 
commenced.  It  was  proceeded  with  only  under  Louis  XIII. 
Lemercier  had  the  idea  of  giving  to  the  court  its  present 
dimensions  by  doubling  the  length  of  the  aisle;  he  con- 
ceived also  the  four  great  pavilions  which  occupy  the  centre 
of  each  side ;  but  as  public  taste  changed,  he  renounced  in 
part  the  designs  of  Lescot.  He  lavishly  adorned  the  three 
sides  of  the  court.  He  did  not  achieve  the  completion  of 
the  work,  but  his  plans  were  highly  respected. 

Bernin  was  called  from  Italy  to  continue  and  complete 
the  undertaking.  His  plans  entirely  nullified  and  stultified 
what  had  already  been  done,  and  it  was  fortunate  for  the 
Louvre,  whatever  it  was  for  the  architect  himself,  that  he  was 
obliged,  on  account  of  ill-health,  to  return  to  Italy.  Perrault, 
whose  ideas  about  this  work  had  always  pleased  Louis  XIV., 


226 


MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


-iext  obtained  the  chief  superintendence  of  the  building 
rie  carried  out  his  ideas  to  some  extent,  but  did  not  liv» 


MtCEUT 

Richelieu  Pavilion  of  the  Louvre. 


to  see  the  build;ng  completed.  The  court  of  the  Louvre 
was  finished  under  Louis  XV.,  according  to  the  designs 
of  Perrault  The  works,  interrupted  during  the  end  of  the 


The  Turgot  Pavilion  (A'evv  Louvre). 


FRENCH    RENAISSANCE.  229 

eighteenth  century,  were  recommenced  under  Napoleon 
with  great  activity.  Several  pediments,  vestibules,  and  the 
faQade  of  the  quay,  date  from  this  reign.  Percier  and 
Fontaine  had  the  good  sense  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  ol 
Lescot  and  Paul  Ponce,  and  the  beautiful  Hall  of  the 
Caryatides  was  completed  almost  exactly  as  it  was  conceived 
by  the  original  artist. 

Decrees  of  the  Provisional  Government  in  1848,  and 
of  the  President  of  the  Republic  in  1852,  resulted  in  an 
Act  for  the  junction  of  the  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries.  The 
plans  of  MM.  Visconti  and  Lefuel  were  the  best  that  could 
be  adopted,  and  the  new  Louvre  remains  to  the  present  the 
largest  architectural  structure  of  our  time. 

Thus  was  finished,  in  1858,  the  work  of  four  centuries. 
The  Tuileries  and  the  Louvre  combined  cover  a  space  of 
61,500  square  feet.  At  the  exterior  the  mass  of  the 
Louvre  extends  536  feet,  and  each  interior  face  of  the  court 
is  390  feet.  The  long  Gallery  of  the  Quay,  from  the  Pavilion 
of  Charles  IX.  to  that  of  Flore,  is  more  than  1,650- feet 
There  are  also  two  parallel  lengths  of  2,270  feet,  which  are 
covered  with  superb  edifices,  the  construction  of  which  has 
been  an  indication  of  the  increasing  power  and  glory  of 
France. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CLASSIC  ART  AND  THE  DECADENCE  OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

NIPPED  in  the  bud  like  a  new  spirit  in  its  birth,  the  archi- 
tecture illustrated  by  Peruzzi,  Lescot,  Philibert  Delorme, 
gradually  declined,  became  heavy,  and  gave  way  to  a  re- 
vival of  heavy  classic  art ;  although  it  still  preserved  in  the 
seventeenth  century  a  certain  measure  of  majesty  in  its 
monotony. 

Three  sides  of  the  court  of  the  Louvre,  and  the  colon- 
nade of  Perrault,  have,  as  we  have  seen,  given  us  beautiful 
specimens  of  the  classic  style  of  that  regular  and  cold  art, 
of  which  Mansart  and  his  nephew  were  the  unquestionable 
masters.  Versailles  is  the  most  complete  type  of  it.  That 
palace  was  the  seat  and  tomb  of  the  old  dynasty  of  French 
monarchs,  and  has  held  a  great  place  in  the  history  of 
France. 

Louis  XIII.  built  at  Versailles  a  sort  of  feudal  chateau, 
flanked  by  four  large  pavilions  at  the  angles,  encircled  by 
ditches  with  draw-bridges.  Louis  XIV.  continued  his 
father's  labours,  but  in  his  additions  the  feudal  character  is 
no  longer  seen.  The  modest  hunting  rendezvous  of  Louis 
XIII.  presents  toward  the  town  a  fa9ade  in  stone  and  brick, 
the  arrangement  of  which  forms  an  agreeable  perspective. 
At  the  end  of  the  Court  of  Statues  are  three  other  courts, 
all  smaller  in  size,  and  of  which  the  last,  the  Marble  Court, 
composes  the  sanctuary,  around  which  were  the  apartments 
set  aside  for  the  royal  household 


CLASSIC    ART.  331 

The  buildings  were  commenced  a  little  after  the  death 
of  Mazarin,  in  1661,  under  the  direction  of  Levau,  and  were 
continued  by  Mansart  from  1670  to  1684.  They  were 
severely  criticised  by  court  retainers.  Saint  Simon  declared 
that  the  place  chosen  was  "  unpleasant,  sad,  without  view, 
without  wood,  without  water,  without  land,  because  the 
ground  was  sandy  and  marshy."  To  this  complaint  the 
finished  structures  are  a  victorious  answer,  opening  as  they 
do  upon  beautiful  gardens,  with  a  thousand  fine  views  and 
vistas,  and  numberless  sheets  of  water.  It  is  only  fair  to 
say  that  the  architects  themselves  experienced  a  hundred 
difficulties  in  carrying  out  this  undertaking.  The  chief 
difficulty  was  to  obtain  funds.  Ninety  millions  of  francs 
(which  at  the  present  day  would  be  worth  four  hundred 
millions)  were  sunk  at  Versailles  under  Louis  XIV. ;  and 
Mirabeau  valued  the  total  expense  at  twelve  hundred 
millions.  There  is  no  doubt  that  these  enormous  expenses 
affected  the  economy  of  the  public  finances,  and  largely 
contributed  to  the  embarrassments  which  resulted  in  the  fall 
of  the  monarchy. 

The  fagade  overlooking  the  garden  was  a  repetition  of 
the  arrangements  common  to  all  the  great  buildings  of  the 
reigns  of  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV. — a  storey  richly 
decorated  placed  upon  a  sub-basement,  which  serves  as  the 
ground-floor.  Here  the  great  length  takes  away  from  the 
effect  of  the  height,  and  the  eye  is  fatigued  by  a  uniform 
line.  Yet,  seen  at  sunset  from  near  the  Swiss  lake,  the 
profile  of  the  fagade  produces  a  grand  impression  of  noble- 
ness and  simplicity. 

The  interior  arrangement,  which  has  been  subordinated 
to  the  preservation  of  the  ancient  chateau,  is  imperfect ;  the 
vestibules  are  ill-placed  ;  and  the  stairs  do  not  correspond 


2J2  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

with  the  richness  and  grandeur  of  the  apartments.  But 
these  defects  are  more  than  compensated  for  by  the  splendid 
pictures  of  Lebrun,  Audran,  Coypel,  Philippe  de  Cham- 
paigne,  Jouvenet,  Lafosse,  and  Lemoyne.  Ancient  statues, 
the  rarest  marbles,  fine  specimens  of  the  goldsmith's  art, 
jewels,  and  curiosities  of  every  description  were  formerly 
lavished  on  these  empty  saloons.  We  may  still  judge  of 
the  former  splendour  of  Versailles  by  the  famous  Mirror 
Gallery.  It  is  228  feet  long  by  33.  Its  seventeen  great 
crosses  correspond  with  the  mirrors,  which  reflect  the 
gardens  and  the  lakes.  Forty-eight  pilasters  in  marble,  of 
the  Composite  order,  enclose  the  windows  and  the  arcades. 
Monograms,  devices,  trophies,  garlands,  and  figures  of 
children  appear  on  the  entablature  and  the  cornice. 

The  chapel,  the  last  work  of  Mansart,  was  described  by 
St  Simon  as  a  sad  catafalque,  and  by  Voltaire  as  a  magnifi- 
cent nick-nack.  We  cannot  subscribe  to  these  criticisms. 
Among  the  religious  edifices  raised  on  the  classic  model, 
none  perhaps  produce  such  an  imposing  effect 


As  far  as  architecture  is  concerned,  the  present  century 
fluctuates  from  Greek  to  Romanesque,  and  from  Roman- 
esque to  Gothic,  constructing  churches  without  character, 
and  many  palaces  which  are  more  like  common  houses  or 
barracks.  Yet  it  is  necessary  to  guard  against  premature 
critir-:?rr.  Posterity  will  judge  our  works  better  than  our- 
selves. 

The  New  Opera  will  perhaps  take  rank,  who  knows? 
among  the  Marvels  of  Architecture.  We  will  glance  very 
briefly  at  a  few  specimens  of  French  imitative  brilliancy. 


CLASSIC   ART. 


233 


The  Madeleine— that  false,  ancient  temple,  th«  c!o- 
corated  perspective  of  which  so  well  adorns  the  axes  cf  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  and  seems  reproduced  as  if  by  miracle 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Seine  in  the  facade  of  the 


Viaduct  of  Chauraont. 

Legislatif — is  not,  it  must  be  confessed,  without  grandeur 
and  beauty.  If  we  forget  for  a  moment  that  it  is  only  ar 
imitation  of  Greek  work,  a  Parthenon  or  Corinthian  temple  oi 
Theseus,  we  shall  admit  the  noble  proportions  of  its  colon 
nades  and  its  front,  and  the  good  effect  of  the  v?.st  £'«:.'-?  i. 


234  MARVELS   OF    ARCHITECTURE. 

front  of  it.  It  is  more  than  325  feet  long  by  130  feet  broad 
It  is  a  single  rich  nave  without  any  windows,  and  lighted  by 
gilded  cupolas.  The  greatest  sumptuousness  characterises 
this  Greek  sanctuary.  Every  sort  of  ornamentation — the 
arches  of  St.  Sophia,  the  Corinthian  arrangement  of  Greece, 
the  pilasters  of  the  Renaissance,  the  gildings  of  Versailles  and 
Genoa,  are  all  to  be  found  in  its  composition.  But  why,  it 
may  be  asked,  make  a  church  like  an  ancient  temple  ?  No 
two  things  are  more  at  variance  than  the  genius  of  Greece 
and  the  spirituality  of  Christianity.  Napoleon  conceived  a 
more  just  idea  of  the  thing,  for  he  wished  to  dedicate  the 
Madeleine  to  the  glory  of  the  French  army.  The  foundations 
date  from  1764,  but  the  Greek  form  belongs  to  the  architect 
Pierre  Vignon,  who  worked  upon  it  from  1806  to  1828.  The 
building  was  not  finished  till  1832. 

The  plan  of  the  Bourse  belongs  to  M.  Brongniart,  who 
superintended  the  building  of  it  between  the  years  1808  and 
1813.  M.  Labarre  continued  and  finished  it  in  1827.  In 
spite  of  its  great  faults — its  gloom,  want  of  air  and  light  in 
the  great  central  hall,  and  also  its  peristyle  open  to  wind, 
rain,  and  sun — this  work  is  by  no  means  to  be  disdained. 

The  Columns  Vendome,  Juillet,  and  Palmier  belong  to 
ancient  art.  The  first,  famous  through  the  odes  of  Victor 
Hugo,  trophied  with  French  victories,  nobly  decorates  the 
square  of  the  same  name.  It  is  an  imitation  in  bronze  of 
Trajan's  Column,  but  very  inferior  to  its  model  in  the 
sculptures. 

The  Column  of  Juillet  is  simple  and  naked,  but  in  a 
beautiful  style.  Its  base  is  of  bronze,  but  the  pedestal  is 
of  stone.  Under  the  base  reposes  the  combatants  of  July, 
1830;  and  ur>on  the  capital  stands  a  bold,  spirited  figure 
of  Libertv. 


CLASSIC   ART.  23 7 

The  Column  du  Palmier  is  circled  with  rings  to  represent 
the  knots  of  the  tree,  and  surrounded  at  its  base  with 
allegorical  figures. 

The  triumphal  Arch  d'Etoile  belongs  like  the  other 
columns  to  the  first  empire.  Commenced  in  1826  by 
Chalgrin,  it  was  finished  in  1836.  Its  inscription  bears  the 
words  Aux  Arm'ees  Fran^aises.  It  is  142  feet  wide,  150  feet 
high,  and  7  2  feet  broad.  The  grand  arch  of  its  facade  mea- 
sures 84  feet  by  45  feet  It  is  the  greatest  structure  of  its 
kind.  Nothing  is  more  simple  than  its  arrangement.  It 
consists  of  four  openings  surmounted  by  a  richly  sculptured 
frieze,  a  very  bold  entablature,  and  a  sloping  roof,  on  which 
are  thirty  shields  bearing  the  names  of  great  French  victories. 

Before  quitting  this  part  of  our  subject  we  must  not 
forget  to  mention  the  aqueduct  of  Chaumont,  which  crosses 
a  valley  1,950  feet  wide.  It  is  absolutely  bare  of  orna- 
ments, and  its  high  and  light  arcades,  which  reach  a  height 
of  165  feet  from  the  valley,  and  the  flanks  of  which  are 
pierced  with  two  galleries  parallel  with  the  upper  way,  are 
supported  upon  great  piers. 

The  New  Opera  House,  at  Paris,  has  been  built  by  M. 
Gamier.  The  principal  fagade,  unhappily  blocked  from 
view  by  its  situation,  is  composed  of  a  basement  of  arcades, 
a  Corinthian  colonnade  forming  a  gallery  on  the  first  storey 
and  a  very  bold  projecting  entablature,  with  circular  front 
Elegant  cylindrical  pavilions  are  applied  to  the  lateral 
fagades. 

The  New  Opera  is  composed  of  eleven  storeys,  is  234 
feet  high,  332  feet  wide,  and  494  feet  from  front  to  back. 
It  is  in  fact  a  cathedral.  From  the  bottom  of  the  boxes 
to  the  top  of  the  stage  is  260  feet 

It  is  in  the  roofs  that  the  great  originality  of  the  building 


238  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

consists.  All  the  different  divisions  have  been  severely 
commented  upon,  but  in  the  mixed  character  ol  the  roofs 
there  is  nothing,  in  our  opinion,  incompatible  with  beauty. 
Behind  the  peristyle,  which  comes  before  the  green-room,  is 
seen  the  cupola  of  the  hall ;  and  behind  it  again,  above  the 
cupola,  the  grand  triangular  frontage,  decorated  with  groups 
of  colossal  figures. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE. 

THE  history  of  architecture  in  England  is  simply  the  history 
of  the  social  and  material  progress  of  the  country.  In 
proportion  as  the  latter  advanced  the  former  flourished ; 
and  the  successive  eras  through  which  we  have  passed 
towards  the  attainment  of  our  present  pre-eminent  position, 
mark  but  so  many  epochs  in  the  perfection  of  the  arts 
of  civilisation,  of  which  architecture  may  be  said  to  be 
one  of  the  best  understood  and  most  important.  Like  the 
whole  of  Western  Europe,  we  were  indebted  for  our  first 
ideas  in  architecture  to  Greece  and  Rome ;  and  though 
our  architects  have  not  proved  themselves  creators  of  stylr 
in  the  sense  that  the  master  geniuses  of  the  former  country 
undoubtedly  were,  they  have  at  least  so  modified  and 
adapted  what  they  borrowed,  as  to  produce  buildings 
eminently  suitable  to  the  character  and  traditions  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  the  climate  and  physical  attributes 
of  the  country. 

The  first  rude  dawnings  of  architectural  science  in 
Britain  are  to  be  traced  back  to  the  Roman  period. 
Colonisers  and  proselytisers  in  the  strictest  acceptation  of 
the  term,  the  Romans  ever  sought  to  carry  their  civilisation 
in  the  track  of  their  eagles.  Wherever  they  settled,  they 
left  manifold  traces  of  their  settlement  in  the  plans  which 
they  designed,  and  the  works  which  they  carried  out 
Merely  to  conquer  nations  by  force  of  arms,  was  with  them 


240  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

far  from  being  an  aim  worthy  of  achievement.  What  the) 
strove  after  and  desired,  was  to  subdue  them  to  the  practice 
of  the  peaceful  arts,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  those  habits 
of  industry  and  dignified  ease  which  had  made  Rome  the 
object  of  the  fear  and  admiration  of  the  world.  Gifted  with 
such  feelings,  and  endowed  with  the  insatiable  desire  to 
promote  civilisation  wherever  they  went,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that,  even  in  so  remote  and  barbarous  an  isle 
as  was  Great  Britain  when  they  first  took  possession  of  it, 
they  should  carry  their  traditions  with  them,  and  strive  to 
impress  upon  its  rude  inhabitants  the  character  of  their 
own  genius  in  the  arts  that  elevate  and  humanise  man- 
kind. 

Accordingly  we  find  that,  during  the  occupation  of 
the  Romans,  many  small  towns  and  forts  were  erected, 
and  a  variety  of  structures  raised,  some  of  which,  in  the 
shape  of  the  celebrated  walls,  are  still  reckoned  amongst 
our  architectural  marvels  by  antiquarians  and  men  of 
science.  Evidences  exist  to  prove  that  considerable  edifices 
were  built  during  this  period,  which,  after  the  religion  of 
the  country  was  changed,  were  devoted  to  the  purposes 
of  Christian  worship  ;  but  the  style  of  these  buildings,  their 
number,  and  the  sites  which  they  occupied,  have  alike 
perished  from  recollection.  Thus  much  is  certain,  however, 
that  they  were,  both  in  dimensions  and  execution,  of  a 
character  sufficient  to  sow,  as  it  were,  the  seeds  of  architec- 
tural art  in  England.  Had  circumstances  been  favourable, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Britons  would  very  materially 
and  immediately  have  profited  by  the  structures  bequeathed 
to  them  by  the  Romans,  after  the  latter  ceased  from  their 
occupation ;  but  their  attention  was  drawn  off  from  these 
by  the  peculiarity  of  their  own  position.  Subject  to 


ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE.  243 

frequent  incursions  of  enemies,  compelled  to  wage  ceaseless 
~*Ar  to  maintain  their  own  existence,  they  had  neither  the 
l:ne  nor  the  inclination  to  devote  themselves  to  the  cul- 
tivation of  those  arts  of  civilisation  into  which  they  had  been 
initiated  by  their  Italian  conquerors.  Architecture  lan- 
guished in  consequence,  and  little  or  no  progress  was  made 
for  a  very  considerable  time  afterwards.  The  conversion  of 
the  Saxons  to  Christianity,  however,  towards  the  close  of 
the  sixth  century,  had  among  its  other  great  and  lasting 
results,  the  effect  of  giving  quite  an  extraordinary  impulse 
to  building ;  and  in  the  necessity  that  arose  for  providing 
religious  houses  for  the  celebration  of  the  rites  of  the '  new 
religion,  sprang  up  a  zeal  for  building  and  ornamentation 
which  led  to  general  attention  being  directed  to  architecture- 
True,  the  structures  that  were  then  raised  were  composed 
almost  entirely  of  wood;  but  the  construction  of  these 
rude  dwellings  gradually  familiarised  the  minds  of  the  people 
with  edifices  for  the  purposes  of  religious  worship,  which 
led  about  a  century  later  to  the  introduction  of  the  art  of 
working  in  stone ;  and  this  in  its  turn  was  not  long  in 
developing  into  noble  monasteries,  abbeys,  and  cathedrals. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  first  rude  dawn  ings  of  architectural 
science  arose  out  of  the  Druidical  custom  of  placing  huge 
stone  pillars  upon  end,  and  uniting  these  at  the  top  by 
means  of  a  third  horizontal  slab.  France,  as  we  have 
aheady  described,  possesses  abundance  of  these  ancient 
remains,  and  England  is  also  rich  in  them.  Stonehenge  is 
perhaps  the  most  celebrated  specimen  -:••'.  such  monuments 
that  exists  in  the  world,  and  has  for  centuries  been  the 
object  of  the  admiration  and  inspection  of  archaeologists, 
historians,  and  travellers.  Some  idea  of  what  its  aspect 
must  have  been  in  the  olden  time  may  be  gleaned  from 

Q  2 


244  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

the  illustration  which  we  append,  representing  it  after  ai* 
ideal  restoration 

The  Roman  influence  would  seem  to  have  be?:i  '2\? 
first  to  weaken  the  veneration  with  which  these  Dmidical 
remains  were  regarded  by  the  simple  and  ignorant  inhabi- 
tants ;  and  the  introduction  of  Christianity  completed  tLe 
great  work  which  was  thus  so  auspiciously  commenced. 
Following  these  two  came  the  Norman  conquest,  which 
introduced  a  new  era  and  exerted  an  influence  upon  archi- 
tecture which  was  more  wide-spread  and  more  immediately 
direct.  Great  improvements  were  introduced  into  the  art 
of  building  by  the  latter  event,  and  the  Norman  taste  soon 
began  to  prevail.  Architecture  made  great  strides,  and 
from  the  year  1066  to  that  of  1154,  many  structures  were 
erected,  the  design  and  ornamentation  of  which  were  richer 
than  anything  which  had  previously  appeared.  Numerous 
castles  and  castellated  mansions  of  the  nobility  took  their 
rise  during  this  period  ;  and  more  than  one-half  of  the 
English  cathedrals  show  traces  to  this  day  of  the  influence 
of  the  Norman  style  of  workmanship  and  design. 

Those  countries  which  received  their  religion  from 
Rome,  and  which  did  not  contain  imposing  pagan  temples 
like  that  nation,  capable  of  being  transformed  into  edifices 
for  Christian  worship,  constructed  churches  in  imitation  of 
those  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  then  capital  of  the 
world.  Hence  arose  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture, 
which  sprang  into  ascendency  during  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  in  no  country,  perhaps,  took  such  deep  root  and 
developed  so  largely  and  magnificently  as  in  England. 
This  style  is  also  widely  known  as  the  Pointed  style  of 
architecture,  and  is  very  largely  to  be  found  in  the  Saxon 
and  Norman  edifices  of  this  country.  What  is  known  as 


Guild  Hall. 


ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE.  247 

the  Corinthian  order  of  Pointed  architecture  is,  indeed, 
almost  peculiar  to  England  ;  neither  France  nor  Germany — 
in  both  of  which  countries  Gothic  architecture  was  eagerly 
accepted — being  able  to  produce  anything  equal  in  their 
several  styles  to  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Windsor,  King's 
College  Chapel  at  Cambridge,  and  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel 
at  Westminster. 

Though  the  Gothic  and  Pointed  styles  are  often  con- 
founded, there  is  considerable  distinction  between  them. 
In  Gothic,  the  general  running  lines  are  horizontal,  as  in 
entablatures  and  single  cornices;  in  Pointed,  the  general 
running  lines  are  vertical.  Arches  are  not  necessary  in 
the  former,  whilst  in  the  latter  they  are  essential  The 
Pointed  style  began  to  assume  prominence  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  II.  ;  but  perhaps  the  most  correct  epithet 
to  apply  to  the  Gothic  buildings  which  sprang  up  in 
England  after  its  first  introduction  in  such  profusion,  is 
Anglo-Gothic.  Impressive  grandeur  is  perhaps  the  per- 
vading character  of  this  style — a  grandeur  arising  at  once 
from  the  simplicity  and  massiveness  of  its  proportions. 
The  interiors  of  Norwich,  Durham,  Chichester,  Canter- 
bury,  and  numerous  other  cathedrals,  are  fine  specimens 
of  the  beauties  of  this  particular  style,  exemplifications  of 
the  excellencies  of  which  are  also  to  be  found  in  the  ruins 
of  abbeys,  monasteries,  priories,  and  churches  of  various 
descriptions  which  are  scattered  more  or  less  over  every 
part  of  the  United  Kingdom. 

Pointed  architecture  has  very  properly  been  divided 
into  three  particular  styles,  each  instituted  at  a  different 
period,  and  each  of  which  possesses  distinct  peculiarities 
and  excellencies.  The  first  took  its  rise  with  the  invention 
of  the  pointed  arch,  towards  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 


.148  MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

century,  the  second  towards  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
and  the  third  towards  the  close  of  the  same  century.  The 
chief  characteristics  of  the  first  style  are :  pointed  arches. 
long  narrow  windows  without  mullions,  and  a  peculiar  orna- 
ment resembling  the  teeth  of  sharks.  Salisbury  Cathedral 
is  the  most  perfect  specimen  of  this  style.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  venerable  Westminster  Abbey,  the  transepts  of 
York  Minster,  the  fronts  of  several  of  the  southern  cathe- 
drals, and  numberless  monastic  edifices,  also  belong  to  this 
style. 

Westminster  Abbey  is  so  familiar  and  so  well  known, 
that  any  detailed  description  of  it  is  needless.  Even  those 
who  have  not  had  the  privilege  of  seeing  it — and  it  has 
perhaps  received  within  its  walls  as  many  pilgrims  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  as  any  ecclesiastical  building  in  Great 
Britain — are  well  acquainted  with  it  through  the  medium 
of  prints  and  pictures,  and  know  its  towers  and  multi- 
tudinous buttresses  as  well  as  the  spire  of  their  own  village 
church.  Apart  altogether  from  its  architectural  pretensions, 
it  has  to  the  people  of  every  civilised  nation  a  charm  and 
attraction  peculiar  to  itself,  and  which  no  other  building 
in  the  world  perhaps  shares  with  it  to  an  equal  degree. 
The  dust  of  England's  most  celebrated  warriors,  statesmen, 
philosophers,  poets,  and  men  of  intellect,  reposes  within 
its  sanctuary,  and  lends  a  lustre  and  dignity  to  its  fame. 

The  second  style  of  Pointed  Gothic  architecture  differs 
materially  from  the  first.  It  has  large  windows  and  pointed 
arches,  divided  by  mullions  and  flowing  lines  of  tracery 
forming  circles,  and  it  is  very  rich  in  ornamentation.  Un- 
like the  first  order,  the  second  does  not  possess  a  single 
complete  ecclesiastical  edifice  as  a  specimen  of  its  style  \ 
but  nearly  all  our  pointed  buildings  display  rich  evidences 


ENGLISH   ARCHITECTURE.  251 

of  its  prevalence  and  influence.  Perhaps  the  best  existing 
specimens  are  to  be  found  in  St.  Giles's  Cathedral  at  Edin- 
burgh, and  in  Melrose  Abbey.  The  latter  edifice  is,  taking 
it  all  in  all,  perhaps  the  chief  architectural  pride  and  boast 
of  Scotland.  No  other  ancient  structure  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  kingdom  is  better  known,  or  attracts  such  hosts 
of  tourists  and  admirers.  This  popularity  is  undoubtedly 
due  primarily  to  its  wonderful  architectural  details,  its 
history,  its  beautiful  proportions,  and  its  minute  sculptural 
achievements;  but  it  is  also  in  a  large  measure  attribut- 
able to  the  charm  which  the  genius  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  has 
thrown  around  the  structure.  The  wonderful  fancy  of  the 
great  Wizard  of  the  North  invested  it  with  even  more  than 
its  ancient  attractions,  and  has  caused  many  who  are 
familiar  with  his  prose  and  verse  to  reconstruct  it  mentally 
with  more  than  its  original  splendour.  Situated  in  a  lovely 
country,  within  easy  reach  of  the  classic  Tweed,  it  has  long 
been  the  pride  of  the  natives  and  the  object  of  the  admira- 
tion of  visitors.  Descriptions  of  its  pointed  arches,  roses, 
buttresses,  entablatures,  architraves,  mullions,  and  spires, 
would  fail  to  give  the  reader  so  correct  and  vivid  an  idea 
of  the  ruin  as  the  accompanying  illustration,  which  repre- 
sents it  with  singular  fidelity.  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  loved 
it  well,  says — 

"  If  you  would  see  fair  Melrose  aright, 
Go  visit  it  by  the  pale  moonlight. " 

But  whether  seen  under  the  mellow  influence  of  the  moon 
or  the  richer  radiance  and  more  searching  splendour  of  the 
sun,  it  is  alike  beautiful,  striking,  and  impressive. 

The  third  style  of  Pointed  architecture  is  known  as  the 
Florid  Gothic.     This  style  is  very  distinct  from  the  others. 


25*  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

The  mullions  of  the  windows  and  the  ornamental  panellings 
run  in  perpendicular  lines.  Its  chief  characteristics  are  : 
increased  expansion  of  the  windows;  gorgeous,  fan-like 
tracery  of  the  vaultings  ;  heraldic  elements  in  the  enrich- 
ments, the  horizontal  lines  of  the  doorways,  the  embattled 
transoms  of  the  windows ;  and  the  enrichment  of  the  flat 
surfaces.  Briefly,  the  difference  between  this  and  the  other 
styles  may  be  said  to  lie  in  the  form  of  the  arches,  the 
arrangement  of  the  tracery,  and  the  mode  of  enrichment. 
Bath  possesses  the  only  entire  specimen  of  this  style,  though 
many  cathedrals  display  portions  of  it.  The  quaint  front  of 
Westminster  Hall,  for  instance,  is  a  good  specimen,  as  also 
the  west  fronts  of  Gloucester,  Winchester,  and  Chester 
Cathedrals.  Illustrations  of  this  style  are  also  to  be  found 
in  St.  George's  Chapel  at  Windsor,  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel  at 
Westminster,  and  King's  College  Chapel  at  Cambridge. 

Pointed  architecture  prevailed,  and  increased  in  popu- 
larity, up  till  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  during  the  time 
it  held  the  ascendency  numbers  of  ecclesiastical  edifices, 
that  have  since  been  the  admiration  alike  of  the  ignorant 
and  the  learned,  were  erected.  During  the  reign  of  that 
monarch,  however,  this  style  collapsed,  and  although  it  did 
not  immediately  fall  out  of  fashion,  it  was  so  seldom 
employed  thereafter  that  it  may  be  said  to  have  gone  out 
of  existence  so  far  as  its  national  character  is  concerned. 
About  this  time  the  Italian  architects  were  beginning  to 
make  their  influence  be  visibly  felt,  and  the  decay  of  the 
Pointed  style  gave  rise  to  a  composite  order,  in  which  the 
vagaries  of  the  Italian  school  had  full  scope  to  display  them- 
selves. Accordingly,  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  there 
sprang  up  a  new  style,  which  was  a  singular  admixture  of 
the  Italian  and  Pointed  schools,  and  which  has  since 


ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE. 


253 


become  widely  known  after  the  name  of  that  monarch. 
Some  writers  have  declared  that  the  introduction  of  this 
style  into  England  was  owing  to  the  influence  of  the 
Reformation ;  but  it  is  with  greater  show  of  reason  to  be 
traced  to  the  reform  in  architecture  which  took  place  in 
Italy  about  that  time.  Whatever  the  merits  of  the 


Pontefract  Castle. 

Elizabethan  school  may  have  been  supposed  to  be,  it 
certainly  displayed  qualities  and  attributes  that  were  both 
original  and  admirable  compared  with  that  which  imme- 
diately followed.  Colourless  alike  in  politics  as  in  art,  the 
reign  of  James  I.  may  almost  be  passed  over  without 
comment,  for  it  produced  nothing  in  architecture  worthy 
either  of  the  national  character  or  of  the  traditions  which 


MARVELS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


previous  generations  had  handed  down.  All  that  was 
achieved  was  executed  by  the  celebrated  Inigo  Jones,  who, 
having  graduated  deeply  in  the  Italian  school,  and  having 
been  taken  into  the  royal  favour,  exerted  himself  to  trans- 


Norwich  Castle. 

mogrify  architectural  art  as  it  then  existed  in  England.  He 
introduced  the  Italian  Pointed  style  into  many  of  the  then 
religious  edifices,  executed  the  well-known  banquetting 
house  at  Whitehall,  and  designed  the  church  of  St.  Paul  in 
Covent  Garden. 

The   period  from  the  accession   of  Charles  I.  to   the 
Restoration    was    too    troublous    and    momentous    in    a 


ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE.  257 

political  sense,  to  allow  of  much  time  being  devoted  to 
those  arts  of  which  architecture  forms  one  of  the  most 
distinguished.  When  the  merry  monarch  ascended  the 
throne,  however,  attention  again  began  to  be  seriously 
directed  towards  them,  and  amongst  those  who  then  rose 
into  prominence  the  name  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren  stands 
out  unique  and  pre-eminent.  He  it  was  who  prevented 
English  architecture  from  being  depraved  by  French  taste, 
and  who  executed  works  which  to  the  present  day  remain 
the  monuments  of  his  genius  and  perseverance.  The  great 
fire  of  London,  which  happened  in  1666,  sweeping  away  so 
vast  a  portion  of  the  metropolis,  afforded  to  his  genius  an 
almost  unexampled  field  for  the  display  of  original  gifts  of 
construction.  Fired  by  the  prospect  which  it  opened  to  his 
invention,  he  drew  out  plans  for  the  restoration  of  the  city 
on  a  scale  worthy  of  his  great  fame.  These  were  not 
adopted ;  but,  although  he  was  baulked  in  the  execution  of 
his  great  enterprise,  sufficient  scope  was  given  him  to  enable 
him  to  design  works  that  have  since  been  the  admiration  of 
the  educated.  His  labours  lay  chiefly  in  the  field  of  eccle- 
siastical architecture,  and  here  he  achieved  triumphs  that 
have  not  since  been  surpassed.  He  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  inventor  of  the  tapering  steeple,  which  now  forms 
so  prominent  a  characteristic  of  our  churches,  and  in  the 
originality  and  elegance  of  which  he  is  still  unrivalled.  Bow 
Church,  and  St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street,  in  London,  may  be 
cited  as  among  his  best  specimens. 

The  masterpiece  of  this  distinguished  architect,  however 
— that  by  which  he  is  best  known,  and  which  may  be  called 
one  of  the  crowning  glories  of  English  architecture — is  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral,  which  so  appropriately  occupies  the  ascent 
of  Ludgate  Hill,  and  attracts  so  large  a  share  of  attention 

R 


258  MARVELS   OF   ARCHITECTURE. 

from  all  visitors  to  the  metropolis.  St.  Paul's,  as  it  at 
present  stands,  is  not  the  building  which  was  originally 
designed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  several  material  altera- 
tions having  been  made  upon  his  plan,  which  were  contrary 
alike  to  his  judgment  and  determination.  Even  in  its 
present  proportions,  however,  it  is  sufficiently  bold,  impos. 
ing,  and  original  to  attract  the  gaze  of  every  beholder,  and 
elicit  the  admiration  of  all  who  love  massiveness,  symmetry 
of  design,  and  imposing  effects.  The  first  stone  of  the 
building  was  laid  in  1675,  anc*  tne  edifice  was  completed  in 
thirty-five  years,  the  last  stone  being  placed  in  its  position 
in  the  year  1710,  by  a  son  of  Sir  Christopher  himself. 
Taken  altogether,  St.  Paul's  is  a  really  glorious  archi- 
tectural effort,  its  cupola  especially  being  of  surpassing 
beauty. 

Sir  John  Vanbrugh  may  be  said  to  have  succeeded 
Wren  as  the  custodian  of  the  national  architecture,  and 
he  introduced  an  Italian  school  that  was  characterised  by 
great  massiveness,  which  was  largely  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  noblemen's  mansions. 

So  far  as  architectural  effort  is  concerned,  there  is 
nothing  to  note  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  Sir  William  Chambers  and  Sir  Robert  Taylor 
were  among  our  most  prominent  architects,  and  their  style 
was  based  upon  the  Roman,  or  rather  the  Italian.  Some- 
what later,  however,  something  of  a  revolution  was  effected 
by  James  Stuart  and  Nicholas  Revett,  who,  by  means  of 
drawings  and  illustrations,  familiarised  the  public  mind  with 
the  great  architectural  masterpieces  of  Greece.  This  caused 
the  Greek  style  of  architecture  to  come  into  fashion  in 
England,  grow  in  popular  esteem,  and  ultimately,  to  a 
considerable  degree,  revolutionise  our  taste  in  public  build- 


ENGLISH    ARCHITECTURE.  f6l 

ings.  The  beauties  of  the  Greek  style  being  once  recog- 
nised, our  architects  came  also  in  time  to  give  due  promi- 
nence to  the  excellencies  of  the  Gothic  and  Pointed  styles, 
and  many  specimens  of  all  these  styles  of  architecture  are 
now  to  be  found  in  our  chief  cities. 

The  new  Houses  of  Parliament  at  Westminster  form 
by  far  the  largest  and  most  important  pile  which  has  been 
erected  in  this  country  for  centuries.  The  old  building  was 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1834,  and  the  first  stone  of  the  present 
edifice  was  laid  in  April,  1840.  Fully  twenty  years  were 
occupied  in  its  completion,  if  a  structure  can  be  said  to  be 
complete  which  is  still  receiving  wings  and  additions. 

In  a  country  like  England,  where  the  feudal  system  so 
long  prevailed,  where  border  feuds  and  family  strifes  were 
constantly  taking  place,  and  where  the  superiority  of  the 
chief  or  baron  was  so  constantly  and  so  forcibly  asserted, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  there  should  be  many  remains  of 
old  castles  and  castellated  mansions.  Almost  every  county 
can  show  some  ruin  more  or  less  celebrated,  more  or  less 
complete,  which  in  former  times  was  the  stronghold  of  rival 
garrisons,  or  the  home  of  the  local  potentate  whose  power 
was  universally  acknowledged  within  the  district  over  which 
he  held  sway.  Such  castles  were  of  all  sizes,  and  of  every 
style  of  architecture,  and  played  a  part  more  or  less  pro- 
minent in  the  history  of  the  country.  Perhaps  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  massive  of  those  that  remain  is  Ponte- 
fract  Castle,  which  is  remarkable,  among  other  things,  for 
the  number  and  disposition  of  its  towers. 

Curiously  opposed  to  this  in  style,  dimensions,  and 
design,  is  Norwich  Castle,  which  belongs  to  the  plain, 
square,  monotonous  school  of  strongholds,  that  prevailed 
to  to  considerable  an  extent  upon  the  Borders. 


26l  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

Holyrood  Palace,  which  has  played  so  important  a  part  in 
the  history  of  Scotland,  and  which  forms  an  object  of  such 
interest  to  all  tourists  and  visitors  to  the  northern  metro- 
polis, may  be  said  to  belong  to  the  baronial  or  castellated 
style  of  edifices.  Situated  at  the  foot  of  the  old  classical 
Canongate  of  Edinburgh,  under  the  shadow  of  picturesque 
Arthur's  Seat,  it  forms  a  pleasing  feature  in  the  landscape, 
and  awakens  strange  thoughts  in  the  mind  of  the  observer 
by  reason  of  the  historical  associations  connected  with  its 
name.  Most  of  the  stormy  scenes,  during  the  stormiest 
period  of  Scottish  history,  are  connected  either  directly  or 
indirectly  with  old  Holyrood,  which  has  been  graphic- 
ally described  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  his  "Marmion." 
Popularly,  however,  it  is  chiefly  known  from  its  connection 
with  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  and  the  scenes  with  which  the 
life  of  that  beautiful  but  unfortunate  princess  was  mixed 
up.  Here  the  notorious  Rizzio  was  murdered,  and  here  are 
yet  to  be  seen  some  of  the  veritable  furniture  which  formed 
part  of  the  decorations  of  the  palace  in  those  ancient  and 
troublous  times.  Recently  the  palace  has  been  inhabited 
by  Queen  Victoria,  on  her  way  northwards  to  her  Highland 
residence  at  Balmoral,  but  the  building  now  is  merely  used 
as  the  dwelling-place  of  certain  officials  connected  with  the 
Royal  household. 

Among  the  other  features  of  English  architecture  worthy 
of  note,  are  the  interiors  of  certain  of  the  halls  which  belong 
to  the  metropolis  and  the  other  great  cities  of  the  empire. 
Those  of  Westminster  and  the  Guildhall  are  especially 
worthy  of  admiration  on  account  of  the  loftiness  of  the 
roofs,  the  graceful  arches  of  the  rafters,  the  richness  of  the 
oaken  decorations,  and  the  solidity  and  variety  of  the 
carving. 


ENGLISH   ARCHITECTURE.  263 

As  regards  domestic  architecture,  England  has  made 
great  progress  of  late  years — a  progress  which  is  most 
observable  in  the  dwellings  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes. 
The  country  seats  of  the  nobility  are  for  the  most  part 
edifices  that  have  been  raised  in  former  generations,  and 
not  a  few  date  back  to  periods  of  historic  interest  The 
growing  wealth  of  the  country  having  recently  greatly 
increased  the  number  of  the  wealthy  middle  classes,  has 
made  them  a  great  social  power  in  the  state,  and  caused 
them  to  imitate  the  pomp  and  luxury  of  their  superiors. 
Mansions  of  almost  palatial  stateliness  have  accordingly 
been  raised  by  them,  which,  in  addition  to  exterior 
architectural  pretensions,  are  fitted  up  inside  with  great 
splendour. 

And  while  the  rich  have  thus  been  improving  and  ex- 
tending their  dwellings,  a  corresponding  improvement  has 
taken  place  in  those  of  the  working  classes.  Private 
enterprise,  joint-stock  companies,  and  public  associations 
have  all  aided  in  the  good  work  of  pulling  down  the 
rotten,  ill-ventilated,  and  inconvenient  old  houses  that  have 
so  long  been  the  reproach  of  our  large  cities,  and  erecting 
in  their  stead  buildings  suitable  in  every  way  for  the  wants 
of  human  beings.  Great  alterations  in  this  respect  have 
been  made  in  most  of  our  centres  of  population ;  and 
although  very  much  yet  remains  to  be  done,  the  lower  classes 
of  to-day  are,  as  regards  wholesome  house  accommodation, 
immeasurably  better  off  than  were  the  generations  imme- 
diately preceding  them.  Public  enterprise  and  capital  have 
done  much  towards  the  achievement  of  this  object,  but 
private  benevolence  has  done  much  more.  Mr.  Peabody, 
Miss  Burdett  Coutts,  and  other  noble-minded  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  have  given  enormous  sums  of  monfcy  towards 


264  MARVELS   OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

the  erection  of  workmen's  dwellings ;  and  the  success  they 
have  achieved  in  this  direction  cannot  be  over-estimated 
The  good  they  have  done  will  live  after  them,  and  their 
names  will  long  be  held  in  remembrance  by  a  benefited 
and  grateful  people.  Well  may  these  eminent  philan- 
thropists say  to  others  who  have  the  means — "Go 
do  likewise  lw 


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monthly,  until  the  entire  library  is  completed  in  this 
new  edition. 

PRICE,  PER  VOLUME,  $1.00. 


NOW   READY. 


WONDERS  OF  MAN  AND  NATURE. 

INTELLIGENCE  OF   ANIMALS,  with  Illustrative  Anecdotes. 

From  the  French  of  ERNEST  MENAUT.     With  54  Illustrations. 

12mo. 
MOUNTAIN   ADVENTURES.     Compiled  from  the  Note-Books 

of  Distinguished  Travellers,  including  Whymper  and  Tyndall. 

Edited,  with  Additions,  by  Hon.  J.  T.  HEADLEY.     With  41 

Illustrations.    12mo. 
BODILY  STRENGTH  AND  SKILL.     By  GUILLAUME  DEPPING. 

With  70  Illustrations.     12mo. 

WONDERFUL  ESCAPES.     By  F.  BERNARD.     With  26  Illustra- 
tions. 


WONDERS  OF  SCIENCE. 

WONDERS  OF  THE  HEAVENS.  By  CAMILLE  FLAMMARION. 
Translated  from  the  French  by  Mrs.  NORMAN  LOCKYER. 
With  48  Illustrations.  12mo. 

WONDERS  OF  HEAT.  By  ACHILLE  CAZIN.  With  93  Illustra- 
tions, and  colored  Frontispiece.  12mo. 

WONDERS  OF  OPTICS.  By  F.  MARION.  With 71  Illustrations, 
and  a  colored  Frontispiece.  12mo. 

THE  SUN.  By  AMEDEE  GUILLEMIN.  From  the  French  by  T.  L. 
PHIPSON,  Ph.D.  With  58  Illustrations.  12mo. 


WONDERS  OF  ART  AND  ARCHAEOLOGY. 

EGYPT  3,300  YEARS  AGO  ;  OR,  RAMESES  THE  GREAT. 

By  F.  DELANOYE.     With  40  Illustrations.     12mo. 
THE    WONDERS    OF    SCULPTURE.     From    the   French    of 

Louis  VIARDOT.     With  a  Chapter  on  American  Sculpture. 

With  62  Illustrations.     12mo. 
WONDERS  OF  GLASS  MAKING.   Its  Description  and  History, 

from    the  Earliest  Times    to  the  Present.     By  A.    SAUZAY. 

With  63  Illustrations.     12mo. 
WONDERS     OF     EUROPEAN     ART.      Translated    from    the 

French  of  Louis  VIARDOT.     With  11   Illustrations. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
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THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
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DAY  AND  TO  $I.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


OCT  "19  1932! 


FEB    6  1939 


LD  21-50m-8,'32 


of_arohi±flc±iira 


3CT-19    1932] 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


YC133801 


